Life In Berkeley
by Samala90
Summary: Post finale fic. Seth and Summer are just married, Ryan and Taylor are back together and expecting a baby, Kaitlin has just finished college. They're all living in Berkeley, all trying to find a way through the changes that life brings. Summary inside.
1. Pleasant Surprises

**Life in Berkeley**

The year is 2014, Taylor and Ryan are together and she's pregnant, Seth and Summer are newly married, and Kaitlin has just graduated from Williams and she's moved to Berkeley while trying to hold together a long-distance relationship.

**About the story: **This is my new story, and the title sucks, but it sticks for now, until I find a more appropriate name for it. This is like a season five in Berkeley: The year is 2014, Taylor and Ryan are together and she's pregnant, Seth and Summer are just married, and Kaitlin has just graduated from Williams and she's moved to Berkeley while trying to hold together along-distance relationship. This will be a love/drama story and the characters will experience good and bad times with love, work, friendship, parents…you name it.

The story will mostly center around Ryan and Taylor, because I've got the most ideas for them, and I love writing them, but I want Seth/Summer and Kaitlin to have their own storylines, and be a big part of the story as well. Unfortunately, my inspiration for Seth and Summer is running kinda low because there is NO way that I for a season 5 can come up with everything myself, so I need help. ANY ideas or suggestions- good or bad, or things you'd like to see in the story for any of the characters would be GREAT, so PLEASE do!

At the moment, I think there'll be maybe 50-60 R/T interaction, and the remaining percent will be focused on the other three main characters in this story. In the future however, this can change and I'll probably include some Cohen-family and maybe some Julie in the far future, probably without their own storylines, but it all depends on your ideas and suggestions. The Seth and Summer storyline is almost completely open right now, so tell me of any suggestions you have and what you want to see.

**What you need to know:** This is sort of a sequel to my other story, When They Met Again, because everything in it between R/T has happened, but if you haven't read it, it's not necessary to read beforehand. However, you should know that Taylor's been back from France a year now, and she and Ryan finally got back together after having had an affair impregnating Taylor, behind Ryan's new girlfriend, Sarah's back. (Note to all Sarah-haters out there: She will NOT be appearing in this story. Lol) Any other details will be made apparent throughout this story.

It's rated just to be safe. Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review! And come with your own suggestions _please!_

**Chapter 1: Pleasant Surprises**

"_Good morning", _Taylor said to the person lying next to her as she woke up with a huge grin on her face. She knew that it was going to be a wonderful day, and she could hardly wait to get up.

"_Good morning", _Ryan answered stifling a yawn. He was a little tired, but smiling all the same. He still couldn't believe that she was here. He couldn't believe that he was once again waking up next to Taylor Townsend and that they were together now. He had been without her all too long, and the three days they had spent together after Seth and Summer's wedding, had been the best of his life. They didn't have to sneak around anymore, and everyone was happy for their sake. And even though it didn't show, they were having a baby in seven months. Life was _good. _

"_Do you think it's actually okay for someone to be this happy?" _Taylor wondered, as she frowned in a way that made Ryan convinced that she was actually being serious as she continued: _"Because this is like the essence of being happy, and I'm not so sure we deserve that."_

"_Oh but we do,", _Ryan said, returning her smile as he moved halfway on top of her, his face only inches away from hers.

"_Is that right?", _Taylor asked with a pleasant and mischievous smile.

"_Uh-huh", _Ryan nodded, kissing her softly, and she returned it with great eagerness. The kisses grew more passionate, and his hands started moving to places she had longed for him to touch before they got back together.

"_Ryan!", _she giggled at his intensity and desire. She sort of wanted to get out of bed, because she felt she had more important things to do, but she was also giving into his kisses and lingering fingers, and was almost out of breath when she asked: _"Aren't we even going to leave the bed today either?" _She was feeling that history was starting to repeat itself, this was what had happened the previous days as well.

"_I wouldn't mind that at all…", _Ryan responded, kissing her neck and collarbones.

Taylor quivered from the traces of his fingers as he moved further down, kissing her stomach and touching her thighs. They both very much wanted it, and Taylor had almost completely surrendered to his touch when all of a sudden, she sat up straight. _"Oh my god!", _she exclaimed, traces of panic apparent in her voice, her face growing paler by the second. Ryan immediately backed off, afraid that he had hurt her or the baby, and he gave her a quizzical and worried look.

"_You know what I just thought of?"_ Taylor continued still looking rather pale, and Ryan shook his head in reply. _"I just realized that I haven't told my mom about us. I haven't even talked to her…about you and me being back together, or about the baby…she doesn't know about any of it."_

"_So call her", _Ryan suggested, definitely trying to take the easy way out.

"_Ryan, I can't do that. I haven't seen her in over three months, and she barely remembers you, I can't just tell her that she's about to become a grandmother over the phone", _Taylor insisted. _"We should meet with her and tell her."_

This was what he had feared that she would say, and he grunted unhappily by her words. Meeting Taylor's mom again was one of the scariest things he could possible imagine. She was possibly even more intimidating than Julie had been when he and Marissa had first started dating, and just the thought of Veronica Townsend was enough to send chills running down his spine. And actually meeting her…telling her about the baby…That was a nightmare Ryan did not want to experience even when he was asleep, and he would have to be very much awake if they were to tell her she was about to become a grandmother. _"A meeting with you mom?_" he complained._ "Can't we just…not?"_

"_No, Ryan this is important to me. I'm mom's only child and this will be her first grandchild, so I have to tell her in person."_" She said it with a convincing and authoritative voice that made it clear that she had definitely made her mind up about this, and he knew that when Taylor set her mind on something, she went after it, and she always got her way. It had worked when she'd gone after Social Chair position, and it had worked when she'd gone after him. In a softer voice, she added: _"And I would like you there with me when I do."_

Ryan just shrugged. _"Yeah, yeah."_

"_I'll call her right now, so we can decide when we should meet." _Then she jumped off the bed, suddenly full of energy, and grabbed the phone on the bedroom dresser and started dialing the number. After a few signals, the housekeeper must've picked up, because Taylor started babbling away in Spanish. After a brief chat in English with her mom, Taylor hung up and sat down on the bed again. _"So we'll drive down to Newport tomorrow morning, and we'll get there kinda late, and we'll tell my mom, spend the night, and then drive back the next day, on Sunday morning."_

"_But I start working on Monday", _Ryan reminded her. Even though he had graduated from Berkeley's architecture program less than a week ago, he already had a job waiting for him at a rather small, private building company. He had done an internship there a few years ago, and they'd been so happy with his work, that they'd called and asked him if he wanted to start working for them full-time the week after graduation, and now the documents were already signed and sealed. His first day was on Monday, and he was really nervous about it even if he knew most of the people at the company and liked them.

"_I know, that's why this weekend is perfect, because I have an ultrasound next Saturday so that won't work, and this way, we'll get home by Sunday evening so you can still make it to work." S_he had really planned everything in detail and was actually getting excited by the thought of seeing her mom. They had only seen each other a few times each year after Taylor had gone to study in Paris, and the occasional phone calls were hardly enough to keep the relationship going. But Taylor knew her mom still cared about her. At least she thought she knew. Her mom had never been to keen on showing emotions.

"_Look, I know you don't like my mom", _Taylor said. _"And I know that you're not exactly best friends…"_

Ryan snorted at this. Veronica had tried to kick him out of school, basically organizing a rally to expel him and Marissa, and when Taylor and Ryan had gotten together, she hadn't been very approving of their relationship since she still thought of Ryan as a criminal for the car theft. They were certainly _not_ the best of friends. _"That's an understatement", _he muttered under his breath.

"_You know, she's a little nicer now than before", _Taylor said, failing to sound convincing. The words nice and Veronica Townsend had probably never been used in the same sentence before, and Taylor wasn't so sure if she even believed in it herself. _"Or at least she's sort of trying to be. Maybe…kinda…hopefully."_ The hesitation in her voice grew with every word, and Ryan looked skeptical at her, his eyes telling her he wasn't buying it. _"But she's my mom, and I really want you there."_

She gave him a pleading look, and after some hesitation, Ryan simply sighed knowing he'd been beaten, and gave in. He had never been able to resist her. _"Okay. If it's that important to you, I'll go with you."_

"_Yay!" _Taylor exclaimed, and hugged and gave him a quick kiss to prove her happiness. As they pulled apart, she grabbed a T-shirt and pulled it over her head, as she started discussing plans for the weekend, knowing that Ryan wasn't paying too much attention. "_Maybe we can tell her over dinner at that little Greek restaurant by the ocean…" _

Ryan's mind was some place else altogether. Meeting Taylor's mom tomorrow…He didn't want to think about it. Then it hit him: If he and Taylor were ever to get married, Veronica Townsend would be his _mother-in-law_. Now _that_ was a scary thought.

Summer and Seth were on the third day of their honeymoon, and they were definitely trying to enjoy it. Neither of them had been to Hawaii before and Seth hadn't been too psyched about going, but it had turned out to really be heaven on earth. Not only were they thrilled about finally getting married after being together for ten years, but they were definitely still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, meaning: the first two days, they hadn't left the room, and Seth had found nothing to complain about it.

Now however, they were lying on the beach, and for Summer, it was just like in the old days. She was perfecting her tan in a gorgeous white bikini, hiding behind a pair of dark sunglasses reading magazines. Only now, the bikini was made out of organic material, and the magazine she was reading was no gossip rag, but Forbes, and she was deeply engaged in a story about global warming and how it would affect the economy of the world.

"_Isn't this the most amazing place in the world?" _Summer thought out loud, looking out at the water, and the endless amounts of soft sand on the beach, enjoying the soft breeze cooling her... Casting a quick glance at Seth made it obvious that anything but happy to be sitting on the beach doing nothing.

First of all, he had _sensitive _skin, so he had to sit in the shade covered in SPF 60 to even be in the sun, and secondly, doing nothing, bored him. He missed his job in Berkeley. Having just been made editor of the local film magazine he was working at, he used to always be busy with something, and it was fair to say he had become somewhat of a workaholic because he loved his job so much, and just relaxing, was getting on his nerves. He wanted to _do_ something: surfing, skydiving, visiting volcanoes…anything that didn't include sitting still. And he was just about to tell Summer that for the thousandth time, when all of a sudden…

"_Oh my god! Summer and Seth!"_

Seth couldn't immediately place the voice, even if it did sound somewhat familiar. However, as the young man walked up to them, it was unmistakably…

"_Zach!" _Summer was certainly surprised, but very happy to see him, and she rose from her chair as soon as he came close enough and hugged him. "_It's been _ages", Summer commented, taking a good look at him.

He looked good as he stood there in just a pair of khaki shorts, nothing covering the top half of his body. Even Seth found no point in denying that. Zach was as tall as ever, if not taller, he had kept his body in good shape, and he had a perfect golden tan covering his entire body, and still the same thick hair. But he still shaves his chest, Seth noted triumphantly. He always had, and always would look down on guys who shaved their chests. That was one of the things that the childhood trauma of being bullied had done to him.

"_Sure has", _Zach said flashing her his big pearly white smile. _"What are you guys doing here?"_

"_Um, I was just about to ask you the same thing", _Summer said. She wasn't uncomfortable at all around Zach, and Seth found that slightly intimidating and scary as he watched their interaction.

"_Well, actually I live here now. I moved here right after college and I run this water sports-store a few hundred yards away."_

"_What happened to the comic book?" _Seth inquired, still unsure about how he should behave.

"_Dude, that was just a phase that I grew out of eventually. This sort of just took over, you know?"_

Seth just nodded, wanting nothing more than to sink through the ground and disappear as Summer and Zach just continued talking, Summer telling him about the wedding and that they were here on their honeymoon. He had no idea how long they stood there talking: Seth's wife and her ex-boyfriend, but he couldn't have been listening at all to their conversation because all of a sudden, Summer said: "_So we'll meet at seven?"_

These words immediately made Seth snap out of his world, feeling a wave of horror washed over him, and he felt almost something like an outer body experience when he watched Zach say: _"Seven it is."_

When Zach finally left, Seth asked Summer: _"What was that about?"_

"_Didn't you listen? We're having dinner with Zach tonight, and then he's going to take us to this club afterwards. It's gonna be awesome."_

Seth just nodded again, panic striking him. Spending an evening of his honeymoon with his wife's ex-boyfriend and his own ex-friend certainly wasn't going to be awesome. It was going to be anything but awesome, it was going to awful. "_But I kinda just feel like staying in", _Seth tried to excuse himself.

"_But you're the one who's been complaining about not doing anything. Well, now you will. It's gonna be fun."_

Oh yeah, real fun, Seth thought to himself. Even in his own thoughts, he was sarcastic, and it was certainly needed in this case. When he'd said he wanted to do something, this had NOT been what he'd meant. Not at all.

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it wasn't too special. The next chapter will include meeting with Taylor's mom, more Summer and Seth on their honeymoon, and we will see a little Kaitlin (I would've included her in this chapter, but I didn't want to make the first one too long). Now please review and tell me what you think, and give me ANY ideas for the Seth/Summer storyline! Please, it's really necessary. _Please!_


	2. The Shock

**Author's Note: So this is just a very short Ryan/Taylor chapter. More like a teaser actually, then a real chapter. Still, I wanted to post it, so you'll know I haven't forgotten about this story or anything. **

**If you're more of a SS-fan, be sure to check out next where they will be included (and by the way, Zach is only _temporary_ so don't give up on the story or anything). And if you're really craving some good SS, you can read the first two chapters of my Summer/Seth story "True Love Waits". You can check it out from my view profile. **

**Chapter 2: The Shock**

"_You sure you want to do this?"_ Ryan pleaded with Taylor one last time, desperate to get out of meeting with Veronica. They were in the car, just outside Veronica's house and this was definitely their last chance to back out. If they stepped out of the car, they were past the point of no return and it would all be too late.But if they left right now…They would still have an opportunity to escape and pretend they had forgotten that they had to meet her, or that traffic was so awful that they couldn't actually get to Newport. A million other excuses ran through Ryan's mind, one less believable than the next, and words like alien abduction suddenly didn't seem that unlikely. Heaving another sigh, and raising an eyebrow, Ryan tried his last persuasive argument. "_I won't hold it against you if you back out."_ Even in his head it sounded lame, yes, but he'd already tried everything else.

Taylor just smiled at him, amused by how terrified he was of her mom. Secretly, though, she had to admit she kinda was too. Even though they were supposedly on better terms these days, Veronica was still her old self, and that meant the petrifying, intimidating and cold person she often came across as being. They rarely even hugged, and if they did, it was always on Taylor's initiative. Taylor had still only once heard her mom tell her she loved her, and that was right after the earthquake when Taylor had accidentally shot her in the foot with the flare gun. Still, Taylor felt fairly certain that her mother loved her, but she also was fairly certain that the news that they were arriving with were not going to go down easily. They could only hope for the best. Swallowing nervously, Taylor took one last deep breath before saying determinedly: _"__No, let__'__s do this.__"_

Ryan sighed inwardly as he heaved himself out of the car, getting ready to face the Ice Queen herself. He'd rather be anywhere else in the world, but he would do this for Taylor, the woman he loved more than anything. Closing the car doors behind them, Ryan turned to is girlfriend with a somewhat quizzical look on his face, and realized that there was something he hadn't asked her. _"__When you talked to your mom on the phone about coming here, what exactly did you tell her?__"_

Taylor avoided meeting his eyes for a few seconds, and they were already at the door when she finally dared facing him. Biting her lip nervously as she rang the doorbell, she said: _"__Well, I didn__'__t tell her that much__…__I just that I was coming over for the weekend, and__…"_

"_You didn't even tell her I was coming?!"_

"_Not so much, no", _Taylor confessed as Ryan gave her an exasperated look. Continuing in a more apologetic tone, she started rambling: _"Well, it's just that…you know, you guys don't get along that well, and I didn't want her to be all hostile towards you before even meeting you, and I just thought that if…"_

However, she was interrupted when the door was suddenly flung open by the Mexican housekeeper, Almudena. _"Taylor!" _the old, white-haired woman exclaimed, and threw her arms around the girl.

"_Almudena!" _Taylor smiled as she returned the hug. It was great to see her again. Almudena really was the sweetest person ever. She had practically raised Taylor when her parents had been absent, and she had taught Taylor Spanish at an early age after noticing Taylor really took an interest in languages. Taylor had always been able to tell her everything, and it was perfect because Veronica didn't speak a word Spanish, and Almudena would never tell, so she knew all of Taylor's secrets and was hardly surprised to see Ryan there. Still, Taylor felt she should formally introduce the two. _"Almudena, el hombre está aqui es Ryan. Ryan, es…I mean, this is Almudena."_

Ryan nodded tensely in direction towards the old woman, not really sure what to expect, but Almudena was so happy to see him that she threw him into a warm hug, and it made Ryan relax his nerves, and he smiled happily as they pulled apart. If only Taylor's mom could be like this, he'd have absolutely no problem with meeting her.

"_Taylor!" _A woman called from the living room, interrupting his thoughts and Ryan watched as Veronica made her way into the hallway. Ryan was very surprised to hear Veronica actually sound quite happy to see her daughter, and he watched with great amazement as the two Townsends hugged each other.

"_Mom", _Taylor said, accepting her mothers embrace. Maybe this wasn't going to go as bad as she'd thought. Maybe her mom really had changed. Maybe she was different. Maybe she was more accepting. Maybe she was…

"_Taylor, have you gained weight? You look a little puffy."_

…the same old bitch.

She felt her mother's disapproving comment get to her, but she was not going to lose her temper. Not this weekend, not today, not when she was pumped with raging hormones ready to explode at any second. She felt Ryan's comforting hand rest on her shoulder as if to say: we'll get through this, and Taylor nodded, suddenly feeling calmer and more empowered. _"__It__'__s nice to see you too, mom__"_she said through clenched teeth, putting on a fake smile.

Her mom didn't seem to get the sarcasm in her voice, and seemed equally oblivious to how much the comment had hurt her daughter. Then she suddenly noticed who Taylor had brought along with her and her face creased together like a raisin in all the places of her face that weren't paralyzed from the botox treatments. _"__Ryan Atwood?!__"_she exclaimed in a shocked and highly disapproving voice, and then she turned to her daughter. _"__Taylor, you brought that thief into our _home_"_

Oh that was it. Taylor felt herself explode with fury inside, like all the air went out of a balloon, all her calm shot out of the window, and she got ready for the fight, opening her mouth to start screaming at her mother. But before she ever got that far, she felt Ryan's hand squeezing her shoulder to remind her of why they were there. They had a mission, and they weren't leaving until they had given Veronica the news. No matter how much Ryan had wanted to avoid the information session, it was inevitable, and they might as well have it right now.

Taylor took a deep breath, and said with a new found serenity: _"__Yes, mother, he is the father of your unborn grandchild, after all.__"_

And then she watched as Veronica's jaw dropped to the floor in shock.

**Author's Note: The next chapter will feature the continuing of this chapter with Ryan/Taylor/Veronica, SS and a little Kaitlin. Hope you tune into read it. Now, Please review! I work SO much faster with reviews.**


	3. Being Back Again

**Author's Note: **So I know that most of the reader's of this story are RT-fans, but this whole chapter is actually about Kaitlin, but I still hope you read it. There will be another RT/SS chapter (continuing where the first two left off) and it will be up SOON, it's just that school has been INSANE lately so I haven't had time for _anything _these last couple of weeks. But I'm finishing my last test tomorrow, so after that I shall be set free and try to write as much as possible. Even though this is a Kaitlin-chapter, please read, and review if you read it. Thanks for all the nice reviews by the way! Keep it up!

**Chapter 3: Being Back Again**

Kaitlin had only been back in California for a week, but she had to admit there were certain aspects of the state that she had missed. The sun, the warmth, the clothes… Sure, it was a little different getting back to Berkeley and now calling it home, having been brought up in Newport, but when her mom had moved up there last year, Kaitlin had been convinced that she'd made the right decision.

After graduating from a community college with a bachelor degree in business and even receiving honors, Julie Cooper was doing well in her life and felt that she could pretty much do whatever she wanted. And what she'd wanted after college was definitely not Newport anymore. Julie had wanted to move up to Berkeley as soon as she'd seen how well the Cohen's had settled there, and how cozy the place was, but she felt it was unfair for her daughter to switch schools with only two years left of her high school education. And also, living in dr. Robert's house was a cheap way of getting by for a struggling student and mother of two, so the little family had remained in Newport for a while.

But after Kaitlin had gone off to college, Julie hadn't really seen much point in staying in Orange County anymore. It wasn't as if she had anything in common with those people anymore, and she missed her best friend Kiki, Sandy's wisdom, and little Sophie, and she felt that her son Jared deserved a fair shot at getting to know his older brother, Ryan. Hence, right after Julie had graduated, they'd moved to Berkeley, and they had no plans of going back to Newport, that was for sure.

Kaitlin knew how happy her mom was here, and there was no point in denying that Julie had decorated the little house beautifully, and Kaitlin felt it was pretty amazing that she was back to being with her family again. She had seen way too little of them over the past few years, and even though she had tried to spend almost the entire summers in California, she had still missed them so much, and it was good to be home. Well, or as home as this place would ever feel.

Here she was, standing in her room and she wasn't completely comfortable with it. Her mom had really tried hard to make the very best of the little room, but it consisted of pretty much everything Kaitlin had left behind in Newport: old posters of bands she'd listened to in high school, piles of clothes that were way out of fashion now, and stacks of CDs she hadn't listened to in years. To the left, beside the window, was her old bed covered with a deep purple cover and bed set that matched the curtains in the window and that she hadn't seen before, and along the light purple walls was a new couch and bookshelf. The bed and couch were filled with fluffy pillows, the window was decorated with a nice vase of orchids, and looking around, Kaitlin even saw some of her old stuffed animals.

Sure, the place looked _nice_, maybe even cozy…but it just wasn't _her_ anymore. It was a girl's room and over the years, Kaitlin had really grown up, and it would feel very weird living with her mom and brother again. It was definitely a step back from having sharing a two bedroom apartment with her best friend, but she didn't really want to tell her mom that or in any way show ungratefulness as she saw how much work Julie had put into redecorating her room. Still, she couldn't live like this, in the small girly-girl bedroom, all cramped together with her mom and 5-year old brother.

It wasn't that she didn't adore and appreciate her family, because she really did. Her last years of high school had really made her admire and love her mom and little brother. As Julie went back to school, Kaitlin couldn't help but to respect and love her so much for the person she'd become. She saw how much her mom loved being back in school and learning things about economics and business, and she saw how much those things made a difference in her life. Going back to school had made her gain a whole new confidence that wasn't based on her appearance or her ability to marry rich people for money.

Even in Newport, Julie Cooper had no longer been viewed as a money-milking cow, she was getting a degree in business, and she loved every minute of what studying was, and Kaitlin really admired her mother for being so motivated, strong and independent. The Newpsies had since long abandoned her, and Julie simply wasn't interested in their shallow small-talk and backstabbing qualities anymore, and she neither had the energy nor did she care about what people thought of her. She was busy with more important things: trying to balance school, taking care of Kaitlin and raising a newborn son was really stressful even if Frank owned up to the responsibility as the father of little Jared, so Kaitlin had had to help out a lot with babysitting her baby brother. Jared just adored his older sister, and Kaitlin proved to be both responsible, caring and playful around him, and therefore, the two got along wonderfully, and Katy hardly ever protested when Julie asked her to baby-sit him.

Sometimes, she was joined by the Bullitt. He was still very much a part of their lives, and he and Kaitlin were still terrific friends, and even though Julie wasn't his wife, and even though Jared wasn't his son, he still provided for them, and was there for them both financially and contributed with his time and presence. Along with him, Kaitlin happily babysat.

It hadn't really been as if she'd had a lot of other stuff to do. As Kaitlin had entered her junior year at Harbor, she'd really started to take school seriously as everyone she knew was away at college, and were loving it, and Kaitlin would never even have that opportunity if she didn't pick her grades up. It honestly didn't take much effort. Kaitlin had always been smart, she'd just found school boring, and had rather spent her days fooling boys to do her homework for her just to prove that she could, more than anything else, and smoking pot had been a hobby of hers that occupied a lot of her time, as did trying to get her mom's attention after Marissa's death.

But once Kaitlin had realized that school really _mattered_ she'd actually come to enjoy it quite a bit. She'd found social science and history very interesting, realizing she had a knack for argumentation, and during her junior year of high school, she'd really picked up her grades, and by senior year, she was top of her class in everything. She even got involved in a lot of school activities: she wrote some articles for the school newspaper about the current political climate, she joined the drama club, organized social chair, and had eventually been voted senior class president, and she'd done a great job. She'd done her thing and finally, people had come to see her as something more than Marissa's younger sister, and by senior year, Kaitlin ruled Harbor like she'd always wanted to, but not in a Mean Girls kind of way, just in a what's-best-for-the-school kind of way.

What her old "friends", the shallow brats of Newport's elite squad had thought of her when she'd suddenly become a motivated student, she couldn't have cared less about. She'd done things her own way, while still making the best decisions for the majority of all the people at the school, and that was something the school had noted about her, and probably part of the reason why they'd decided to make her valedictorian.

With all of the excellent extras she was able to put on her college application along with her excellent GPA, most people had automatically assumed that Kaitlin was to go to a Ivy League school, but the truth was that she hadn't really thought much about it. She'd assumed that she would go to the cheap, local community college, because her mom wasn't exactly rich these days, and Kaitlin wasn't sure if it was worth applying for a scholarship. Truth be told, she'd been somewhat scared of leaving her mom and brother. Who'd baby-sit Jared when her mom was studying if she wasn't around?

She felt that they depended on her, ever since Jared had been born and she'd started working part-time at the ice-cream store after it had been rebuilt. It hadn't been too bad. She saw a lot of people and got to use her sociable side, and hey, all the free ice cream one could eat was enough to please her. Cleaning boxes and scooping ice-cream wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was an okay first job, though.

However, the minimum wage salary wasn't nearly enough to keep her burning fashion sense satisfied, and Bullitt was so proud of her for working so hard at the shop and at school, so that for her 17th birthday, he gave her a credit card with a sky-high limit. She never got to know just quite how high the limit actually was, because she never dared spending too much, and she did a lot of thrift store shopping anyways, but she definitely used enough so that she was always well-dressed.

Even though Bullitt wasn't dating Julie anymore, he still cared a great deal about Kaitlin and he saw her all the time, and was a nice father figure to her since her own father was still mostly at the sea and not really able to talk to her, let alone see her, that often. Sure, they had the once-a-month phone call and the occasional e-mail, but after Marissa's death, Jimmy tried to stay as far away from Newport as possible, and that was at the expense of his living daughter.

Therefore, the only parents Kaitlin had around was her mom, and the Bullitt, and he was always there for her. Frank was around a lot too, and even though Kaitlin had started to respect him after seeing how much he cared about Jared, he and Kaitlin still didn't really quite get along, and Kaitlin would never view him as a father figure for herself. But the Bullitt was always there for her, prouder than any father could be, and they were even closer today than they had been six years ago.

She actually had the Bullitt to thank for a lot of things. It was because of him that she'd finally ended up going to Williams, which had turned out to be the best decision she'd ever made in her entire life.

In her senior year at Harbor began looking at course catalogues for different schools, more for ideas than actually for applying, since she basically assumed that she'd end up at community college anyways, and she told everyone that she'd be perfectly content going there. In secret though, she dreamed of going to Williams, thinking she'd really come to develop in a liberal environment, and Williams was the best liberal arts school there was.

When Kaitlin had confided in the Bullitt that she dreamed of going to Williams, but that her mother probably couldn't afford it, Bullitt had told her that he would pay for any education she wanted- masters, and PhDs, dorms or apartments included, if she just kept up her grades. Kaitlin was amazed, but there had still been the question on whether or not she could imagine spending that much time apart from her family and therefore, she decided not to tell her mom that she'd applied to Williams. But when she had told her mom that she'd been accepted to Williams, her mom had insisted that she should go if she wanted to. And, as it was Kaitlin's dream to go there, that was where she in the end decided to go, and she had loved every minute of it. The time she'd spent at Williams had been perhaps the best years of her life and she would never regret going there.

It had been a great experience. When she'd started there, she broke off all connection with the people in Newport (except her family, of course), since she just didn't want to be reminded of that life, and instead she made a lot of new friends at Williams. Luckily for her, most of them were really study-motivated, kinda quiet, and really nice people, not trouble-making spoiled brats like in Newport, and Kaitlin loved finally getting away from all of it. The small classes that Williams offered, made Kaitlin feel more secure about speaking her mind freely, and it was a great environment for her to study in, making her excel in her classes, really achieving her full potential.

Kaitlin was just standing there and thinking about how much she was really going to miss the campus, the teachers and classes, and her friends there, some of which she'd probably never see again, when all of a sudden, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her jeans pocket. She smiled as she pulled it out, noticing the caller ID flashing _"Jenna", _who was her very best friend from Williams. Though close to most of the people in her classes, Jenna Malone, a beautiful brunette in her political science class, accepted on a full scholarship, had quickly become her best friend.

Kaitlin answered the phone happily, and Jenna immediately told her how much she missed Kaitlin, or Kay, as she called her, and then at request started filling Kaitlin in on everything that she'd done now back home in the Bronx the past week after graduation. Jenna was very different from any girl Kaitlin had ever met, and she'd made quite an impression on her the very first time they'd met. Extremely intelligent and poised, Jenna was well-spoken with a very sharp tongue, she was extremely study-motivated, in on a full scholarship, and would never let anyone step on her toes. But she was also somewhat shy when it came to meeting new people and could be very quiet, and reserved, and didn't really let people in or close to her. In that aspect, she and Kaitlin were very much alike, and maybe that was why they'd clicked so easily. After being made discussion partners the second hour of their political science class, in which they'd both majored in, the girls had immediately started bonding, and they'd been best friends ever since.

They came from very different backgrounds, Jenna was raised in a big family with five older brothers, and came from a loving, but poor family in the Bronx, and Jenna had always been well-behaved and deeply devoted to her studies, while Kaitlin had been extremely spoiled growing up, but also facing tragedy fairly early in life. Though raised so differently, they really understood the other and they were so much alike personality wise. In their sophomore year of college, they'd gotten an apartment together close to campus (again, thanks to Bullitt, he was really committed to making Kaitlin's life as great as possible), and though they sometimes argued and got on each other's nerves, they always made up quickly, because they hated not being able to talk to the other. When they were together, they could either be deeply engaged discussing the latest politics or some serious news event, or involved in a heated discussion about book or movie, or they'd be crying from laughing so hard, and if necessary, they didn't really need to say anything. They were somewhat of soul mates: ridiculously close, more so than most sisters, and always knew what was on the other's mind, so they could never hide anything from each other. Kaitlin could always tell if something was bothering Jenna, and just as easily, Jenna could tell the same with Kaitlin. And it was just as true this day like any other.

"_Hey, Kay", _she said softly after Kaitlin had dozed off for a while into her own world of thoughts. She'd been distracted by the shoulder bag shaped like a dog that was hanging over a chair by the window. Marissa had given her that bag… Julie probably didn't even remember who'd given her the purse, but it was amazing that after all these years, Kaitlin still thought it painful to think about Marissa, how she sometimes even now felt that she would never be as good as her, afraid that she would always be living in Marissa's shadow. That Kaitlin would always be her sister, not the other way around. Kaitlin had thought she'd escaped that when she'd gone to Williams, and it was part of the reason why she had wanted so badly to leave Newport, but even here, in Berkeley, Marissa's presence lingered, quickly sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

"_Kay", _she repeated, a little more firmly this time, which made Kaitlin wake up from her daydreaming, and she grunted in reply. _"What's wrong?" _Jenna finally asked. Kaitlin didn't answer her immediately. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to pretend that nothing was wrong, and even she knew that she could tell Jenna everything, Kaitlin just didn't feel like talking about Marissa today. She'd told Jenna about her before, of course, and talking to her about Marissa and every aspect of growing up, had been like therapy to Kaitlin, because Jenna was always so understanding. She just didn't want to talk to her about her today, and luckily, Jenna chased in on the wrong track, allowing Kaitlin to think about something else.

"_Are you concerned about how your relationship with Jake is going to last?"_

Aaaah, Jake, her boyfriend. They'd fallen in love during their junior year at Williams after meeting at a party. Though neither Jenna or Kaitlin were too fond of drinking-parties, they'd decided to go there as it was a kick-off school party, and somehow, Jake's playful ways and very obvious drunken hits on her, had charmed Kaitlin, and a few weeks afterwards, they'd gone out on their first date.

Jake was quite a funny nerd and in a lot of ways he reminded Kaitlin of Seth. In fact, he and Seth had met last summer, when Kaitlin had brought him along for her summer stay in Berkeley, and Jake and Seth had hit it off right away, sharing the passion of both comic books and Yakuza, and the boys still kept in touch. Although Kaitlin would never fall in love with Seth, there was just something about Jake that she'd liked. He was funny, and really nice, and she needed someone in her life that she could trust. A few worthless flings had made her realize that.

Now, they'd been dating a little bit on and off, but mostly on, for nearly two years, but it seemed that they were kind of at a crossroad in their relationship with him living in Boston, and Kaitlin having just moved back home to Berkeley. They hadn't really discussed the status of their relationship but Kaitlin assumed that they were still together since Jake had promised her that he would fly over to California sometime for fall. He was spending the summer backpacking through Europe and was therefore not going to be home to see his girlfriend.

Truth be told, Kaitlin was a little worried about her relationship with Jake. Were they really going to survive this whole long-distance thing? And maybe he'd meet a bunch of hot European girls to hook up with while there since Kaitlin wasn't around. Either way, she was thankful that Jenna had brought it up, because it saved her the trouble of sounding like a pathetic, clingy girlfriend.

Because Kaitlin really wasn't a weak person. During the past years of high school and college, she had really matured, and she'd was able to say that she was fairly proud of whom she had become, and it showed in the way that she carried herself. She was a lot more confident, but not in an arrogant way, just in a I-know-what-I-want-from-life kind of way. She really wasn't a snob anymore. Sure, she still wore nice clothes, and she drove a _great_ car, but that was all thanks to the Bullitt.

The awesome car she drove was another present of his. She had gotten it just a last week, on her college graduation. He was prouder than any father could've been as he saw her receiving her diploma, with the yellow ribbon hanging around her neck, witnessing about the honors she had received after writing the best senior thesis the world had ever seen (well, in her opinion anyways), and with a GPA of 3.8. He'd given her the car, an adorable little sporty silver-colored Audi, simply because he'd felt she deserved it, and Kaitlin hadn't wanted to object to that, because she was really proud of her grades, and loved driving around in her car.

After discussing Kaitlin's relationship with Jake for another couple of hours, the girls hung up, and Kaitlin took a final look around the room she'd be living in and imagined staying at this house. Her mom had kinda gotten slightly overprotective since she'd had Jared, and after living without parental supervision for so long, Kaitlin quickly realized that she'd go crazy if she, at the age of 22, would have to live by her mom's rules and curfews. She was going to have to go looking for her own apartment first thing in the morning, and she would have to leave this house _soon_.

**Author's Note: **Yeah, that was a really long one about Kaitlin and there wasn't really a point to the chapter more than to explain some basic facts about Kaitlin, her relationships with the family, friends, boyfriends etc…If you read it, though, please review! Reviews make my day! The next chapter will probably only be about RT and SS, so be patient. Hopefully, I'll upload it within a few days.


	4. Failing To Be Nice

**Author's Note: **Sorry, it's taken me so long to update this, but my mind has certainly not stopped working on it. I'm glad so many of you liked my chapter about Kaitlin, even if most of you are RT fans. To answer some questions in case anyone else wants to know: Kaitlin won't be a drama queen, I will write about Taylor's childhood later on when some people from her past will return, and yes, there is an actress named Jena Malone, but I am not keeping her in mind when I write about Jenna. Jenna is a character of my own imagination, and when I came up with her name and personality attributes, I had never heard about Jena Malone, and she's therefore no influence for my Jenna. Also, I know I said this chapter was going to be RT AND SS, but my RT got so long that I decided that I'll have to wait with SS until the next chapter. Now, on to this chapter!

**Chapter 4: Failing To Be Nice**

"_WHAT?!?!" _Veronica's shrill scream had pierced through the air and had echoed throughout the hallway after Taylor's revelation. _"You're PREGNANT?!" _Taylor had just nodded calmly in replythen the silence had fallen. A silence that had seemed to stretch for an eternity, even though it might only have been for a short moment. A silence during which Ryan had actually been able to see Veronica's face switch color, and he had watched as it had turned from a golden tanned shade to a pale white one, to finally settle into a hot red and flushed, angry tone. This was not the kind of person whom he would've chosen to be the grandmother of his firstborn child. Actually, Veronica wasn't the right kind of person to be a grandmother at all, or a mother for that sake, and again, the thought that this person was one day likely to become his mother-in-law, was a thought that scared him half to death.

Ryan had looked around nervously, not sure at all how to behave or if he should say anything, and he had exchanged a worried fleeting look with the housekeeper, Almudena. He had felt that all of this was his fault. Taylor and Veronica had really improved their relationship these past couple of years, and now, just because he was there, just because he'd gotten Taylor pregnant, it was all going to be ruined. That had made him cast anxious glances at Taylor, glances that were filled with guilt.

Taylor had just sighed by her mom's overdramatic reaction, realizing that these were definitely the genes from which she had inherited the skills that had led her to become an outstanding member of the high school drama club. This had not been the way she'd wanted to tell her mom, but after the way Veronica had behaved in the thirty seconds since she and Ryan had arrived, Taylor hadn't really seen any point in letting her mom ease in to the news.

So there they had been standing, all of them staring at each other in the hallway, neither of them knowing what to say or how to behave towards the other, wondering what they were going to do next after getting off to such an awful start. They'd just stood there motionless for what felt like an eternity, until Almudena had finally suggested that they should be off for dinner so they wouldn't miss their reservation at The Ocean Breeze, the beautiful Greek restaurant by the beach. This had made all of them snap out of their apathetic state and get in their respective cars, and Ryan had decided to drive there, afraid that Taylor's raging hormones would drive them off the road if she got behind the wheel. Taylor hadn't objected to this, and had been sitting in a furious silence for minutes before she had finally started speaking. Well, or more like yelling insanely because she was so mad, but it had turned out to be pretty cathartic for Taylor, because by the time they'd gotten to the restaurant, she had been fairly calm.

Now they were halfway through dinner, and so far, it hadn't been a pleasant experience for any of them. All during dinner, Ryan had kept desperately glancing at the door, checking all the emergency exits, and frantically tried to come up with good excuses to escape it all, but he came out empty-handed. Just like Ryan, Taylor remained relatively quiet during dinner, faking interest and politeness, since she didn't want to yell at her mom. Her mom and dad had always fought when she'd been growing up, and she'd sworn to herself at an early age that she wouldn't be like that. Therefore, she tried to keep her calm as Veronica kept pouring out snappy and insulting comments about anything she could think of, all while indifferently eating her salad as if she really didn't care who those remarks would hurt.

She'd talked about everything from the crazy environmentalist group in Newport that had started a few years ago, to the way the Democratic party didn't want to lower the rich people's taxes, as well as just catching them up on all the latest gossip: who'd gotten divorced, who was gay, who's kid had turned goth… stuff neither Taylor or Ryan couldn't care less about. She'd conveniently avoided all along to talk about the fact that she was about to become a grandmother, and instead, she was now talking about her work at Harbor, where she was still working (for some reason that remained unknown to Taylor and Ryan) on the board of administration. _"You know, we've admitted a lot more students on scholarships lately, and I have to tell you, there's a noticeable difference among the other students. There's an increased rate of violence among all the students and the lack of concentration is evermore apparent." _

Both Ryan and Taylor looked up, surprised by this and Veronica added: _"But I guess that's what to be expected from those troublemakers around those trashy neighborhoods like Riverside and Chino. So much violence there."_ Ryan coughed discreetly at this, knowing that Veronica would never even set her foot in a place like Chino, and therefore couldn't possibly have any idea what it was like.He also knew that she only said these things to insult him, knowing well where he was from, so he tried to force himself not to take offence by it. Veronica didn't even look up as she continued. _"Those people just have this threatening presence", _she stated_. "It's enough to affect all the other students."_

Taylor's mouth flew open by the disgusting remark her mother had just made, and Ryan felt his fist tighten beneath the table. He wanted to say something about how it was usually the most popular and spoiled kids that were the real troublemakers, like it had been for him and Seth. Or maybe he just wanted to throw a tomato in Veronica's face or something, but the one thing he knew for sure, was that he just wanted to run out the restaurant door and never return. But he wouldn't do that, because he was with Taylor now. She wanted him there, and as long as she did, there was nothing that could make him leave her side. She had that kind of power over him; he not only felt that he owed it to her, but he wanted to be there for her as well. He was doing this for Taylor's sake and for the sake of his unborn son or daughter, not for his own, and that made it bearable.

Finally dropping the subject of Harbor, Veronica said: _"__I just don__'__t understand why you aren__'__t married, or at least engaged__." _She took another bite of her salad, and looked up at her daughter with a gaze that demanded an answer.

Neither Taylor or Ryan answered immediately because neither of them really knew what to say. The truth was that marriage was kind of a sore subject between them, due to a certain event a few moths ago. Back then, Ryan had still been with Sarah, but when she was on Christmas break in New York with her parents, he and Taylor had ended up together in bed. Realizing that they still loved each other, they'd decided that they would tell Sarah everything as soon as she got back. With what he'd thought was only a few days away from them officially becoming a couple, Ryan had gotten Taylor an engagement ring as a Christmas gift, along with a note where he'd promised her that they would get married soon. However, just as Ryan had been about to tell Sarah the truth, she'd discovered that her father had died, and Ryan had felt obligated to stay by her side. Taylor had been very upset, but understanding, and had returned the ring to Ryan.

For a few months, he'd faithfully remained as Sarah's boyfriend, not even talking to Taylor, whom had seemingly moved on and had started dating another guy, so he'd given up on her. But Sarah had eventually found the engagement ring in Ryan's pocket and realized that it wasn't for her, finally facing that their relationship was dead since long, and she'd decided to move back to New York. Then, Ryan had realized just how much he loved Taylor and he had told her right before Summer and Seth's wedding that he wanted to be with her, and in return, she'd told him she was pregnant.

Now, they had only been together for a few weeks, and they still hadn't really talked about the engagement ring or their plans for the future. He had always planned that he would marry Taylor as soon as he'd graduated and broken up with Sarah, but now that both were done, their marriage plans had somehow gotten sidetracked with the baby on the way, and Taylor still hadn't gotten the ring back.

It wasn't that he didn't know how he felt about Taylor, because after everything that they'd been through, he was more positive than ever that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She was the mother of his unborn child, and one day, he would make her his wife, he was sure of that. It was just that he didn't want to rush into things. When he had given her the ring the first time, he had felt certain that they were ready for it, but now, his regular insecurities about his inadequacies had been catching up with him.

After being betrayed and left so many times by the people he loved, there was a part of him that was very cautious, afraid of committing. He had always been scared of getting close to people and letting his guard down, and maybe he would never be able to fully give himself away to another person the way both partners needs to be able to for a marriage to work. Therefore, he would never want to rush into something like that without serious consideration if he was ready for it or not. After all, marriage was a major commitment, and he and Taylor had only been together now for less than two weeks. He loved Taylor so much that he was afraid that if they would rush into things, it would ruin everything between them. And he was sometimes still unsure if he was ready for such a serious commitment as marriage, because if he was to get married, he wouldn't go through with it unless he was 100 sure that it was what he wanted.

When both Taylor and Ryan failed to give her a straight answer, Veronica continued. Not even looking up, and picking up a piece of tomato with her fork, she said: _"__I mean, I know that your not a virgin or anything, Taylor, but some kind of manners would be expected in a situation like this.__"_

Okay, now she'd had it with the fake niceness. That was it. _"__MANNERS?!__"_Taylor asked in a shrill tone, pushing her plate away from her and standing up. _"__I can__'__t believe you! We come down here to nicely tell you that we love each other and that we__'__re having a baby, and all you do is yell and accuse Ryan of being a criminal, and me of being a slut, and then you have the nerve to talk to us about manners? Unbelievable!__"_Taylor was shaking her head in anger, and she was yelling for all of the restaurant to hear, completely oblivious of all the people that were staring at them.

"_Taylor, sit down", _her mom pleaded in an angry quiet voice, looking around unhappily at all the people she knew that were staring intently at their table, eager to hear what the fight was about so that they could tell everyone they knew the second they left the restaurant. That was the Newpsie-way.

"_No, mom, I won't sit down! I've wanted to say this for the longest time, and after the way you've just behaved, you don't get to tell me anything." _Taylor had applied a tone that meant business, and she wasn't going to let anyone's objections disturb her now, so even Veronica fell quiet, and Ryan was impressed by her finally standing up to her mother

Taylor took a deep breath, and after that, everything she had ever wanted to tell her mom started pouring out of her, and whenever Veronica tried to put in a comment, Taylor would raise her hand stating she wasn't finished. The speech went on for several minutes, the longest few minutes of Veronica's life, and though she tried taking in everything Taylor said, it was also very distracting that Taylor wouldn't at least sit down, and she blushed from the embarrassment, and repeatedly asked her if they could take the conversation outside.

But Taylor wouldn't budge as she rambled on about everything from her mother's lack of ways to prove her love for her only daughter, how Veronica had never addressed any of the problems Taylor had gone through, and neglected the traumas in her childhood, how Taylor had practically been raised by the housekeeper, then she went on about Veronica's frosty nature, her insulations during dinner…and the list went on for so long that Ryan was beginning to seriously wonder why Taylor even wanted her mom in her life.

But then she said it: _"__But I love you mom, and I know that deep down somewhere behind your icy and surgically fixed surface, there__'__s a part of you that, regardless of your behavior, loves me too. At least, I__'__m pretty sure of that. But I__'__m with Ryan now, and he__'__s just amazing and I love him so much and he__'__s the father of your unborn grandchild, and if you want to be in our lives, you have to accept that. Because I__'__m an adult now, I won__'__t tolerate your behavior anymore. I deserve better than that, and you simply can__'__t do that anymore.__"_

After that, Taylor fell silent as if waiting for her mom to apologize or say anything that was real, but when Veronica finally spoke it wasn't the words that Taylor had been so desperate to hear. Instead, she said in a hushed, angry voice: _"Taylor, I can't believe you would do this to me in front of people I know and respect."_

Taylor gave her mom a look of grave disappointment and tears started welling out of the corners of her eyes. Maybe it was because of her hormones, or maybe it was because of rage or even from hurt, but whatever it was, it was painful for Ryan to watch the woman he loved cry, wiping away the salty wet tears that stained her face with mascara. More than anything, he wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, or hug her to let her know that he was there for her, but he knew that this was a battle she needed to fight on her own so he didn't interrupt her as she continued. "_You know, mom, I thought you had changed, I-I thought that you would actually listen to me, but… I guess I was wrong. I'm done with this. We're done. You're no longer a part of my life."_

With those words she stormed out of the restaurant, and Veronica just stared hopelessly at her back, pleadingly yelling: _"Taylor, wait!" _But Taylor didn't turn around, so Veronica made an attempt to get up from her chair and follow her daughter, but Ryan stopped her.

"_I think it's probably for the best if I calm her down a little first",_ he said quietly and Veronica nodded agreeing. Then he left to look for Taylor, leaving Veronica alone for all the restaurant guests to stare at her.

Ryan didn't have to search for long, because passing the ladies room, he heard sobs, and he paused at the door before gently knocking and asking with a soft voice: _"Taylor? Can I come in?" _Taylor nodded through her tears in reply, and though Ryan couldn't hear it, he assumed that was what she had done and he entered the bathroom. There he found her, sitting in the middle of the floor with tears streaming down her face, rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around her legs like a little child's. Ryan couldn't help but to notice just how fragile she looked just there, hopelessly trying to clean up her face a little, embarrassed that she had cracked in front of Ryan and the entire restaurant. But Ryan didn't care about the way she looked at the moment. He just took a seat right next to her on the floor, and then took her in his arms, gently stroking her back as she cried into his shirt, soaking it with stains of salty tears and mascara.

They sat there for quite a while, until finally there was another knock on the already wide-open door, and Veronica entered with eyes filled of remorse. _"I'm sorry to interrupt… but Ryan, could you leave us alone, I'd like to have a word with my daughter." _She said it so softly, so nicely, so apologetic, so unlike Veronica that Ryan just couldn't refuse her.

"_I'll be right outside", _Ryan promised, gesturing at the door as he walked out the bathroom, and Taylor nodded appreciative, wiping away yet another tear.

When they were alone, Veronica turned to face her daughter, and took Taylor's hands in her own as she began to speak. _"I'm SO sorry, Taylor. I know I've hurt you immensely over the past years, and that I haven't been the mother to you that you've deserved, and there's no way that I can make that up to you, but I really am sorry. The way I behaved tonight, when I should've been happy for you that you're in love and I'm going to be a grandmother…The things I said were awful, inexcusable, and if you don't want me in your life anymore, I understand. I don't deserve to be." _

Veronica fell silent, and looked down on her shoes embarrassed, and for the first time, Taylor realized her mom was being sincere and she looked up through her tears. She squeezed her mother's hand as a way of encouraging her to continue, so she did. _"When you said all those things at the dinner table, I realized that… if I don't change, I could lose you forever, Taylor, and I don't know how I would be able to do that, because despite everything I've done…" _Veronica took another deep breath before she finally added: _"…I love you, Taylor."_

"_Mom…I love you too", _Taylor said smiling, and then she started rambling: _"And I'm sorry for all the things I said at the dinner table, and that I did it in front of your friends, I'm sorry I embarrassed you, I mean, I didn't really mean all the things I said, and…"_

"_Yes, you did", _Veronica interrupted quickly, but she didn't sound upset. _"And you have every right to feel that way. All I can say is that I'm sorry, and that I'll try to change."_

"_I forgive you, mom. For everything", _Taylor said, embracing her mother, who seemed rather stunned by Taylor's affectionate hug. However, Veronica didn't pull away, and she drew Taylor's arms a little closer around her neck.

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"_I can't believe you finally made peace with your mom", _Ryan said to Taylor when they were driving away from Orange County. _"After all these years…" _

"_I know, right?" _Taylor agreed, leaning towards Ryan's shoulder, hoping to catch some sleep on the way home. _"But after the way she apologized and she told me she loved me… I knew she really meant it, and it made it so easy to just forgive her and let go of all the grief in the past. And even you got an apology!"_

"Yep. _Apparently I've matured a lot since I first came to Newport, and it is obvious how much I love and care for you."_ Ryan said, remembering Veronica's words. And he added in a playful tone: _"Which is a total act of course." _Taylor hit him on the arm, seemingly upset, but she was smiling all the same, which made Ryan laugh. Taylor loved to see him laugh, and he had a wonderful, contagious smile, and she loved that she brought out that playful side of him.

On a more serious note, Taylor decided to confide in Ryan about one on her latest concerns. _"Ryan… Do you think I'll make a good mom?"_

"_Of course you are", _Ryan answered sincerely. _"I've seen the way you are with Sophie and Jared, and they just adore you. And after the way you stood up to the Townsend tornado, I'm sure there's nothing you can't handle. I was impressed."_

Taylor smiled a little at this, and rested her head on Ryan's shoulder while looking out of the car window as they were driving away from the place they had once called their home. The funny thing that she had realized when they'd visited Newport, was that she didn't miss it at all. The things they were driving past on their way out from the Orange County area: the bright orange sunset, the beautiful beaches, the fancy restaurants, the snobby people… it all seemed like things from another life. A much worse life. Newport Beach was ancient history and Berkeley was the right place for them to start their family. It was their home now.

**Author's Note:** Like I've said three times before now, the next chapter WILL included some SS too. But now is the time to tell me what you thought of this one...so please review!


	5. The Future Freaks Me Out

**Author's Note: So I know it's been a while…and if you've checked out my view profile, you know why. I just want to start by apologizing for this and I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story because I can assure you that I certainly haven't. This one includes some SS and RT…I hope you like it.  
****And also…thank you so much for all the reviews…they really mean a lot. About the reviewers of the last chapter that felt that more dialogue would've been preferable; I agree, especially looking back, but it was a very difficult chapter to write in the terms that it was important to tell a bit about Taylor growing up, as well as conceal even more… Future chapters will bring that into clarity later.  
And thanks once again to you, Sharon. Really, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to bounce ideas with.**

**Chapter 5: The Future Freaks Me Out**

Seth was getting homesick. He and Summer were reaching the end of their honeymoon with only three days left on Maui which was said to be the paradise island, but their so far vacation had been anything but paradise like for Seth.

Ever since they'd met Zach that day on the beach, they'd spent every woken moment with him doing all kinds of things: shopping, eating, visiting volcanoes, exploring the country land, traveling to some of the different islands of Hawaii and wakeboarding. Zach had even taken them to a hula-class, during which Summer had learnt some killer moves while Seth had felt like a fish on dry land, because spite his prior beliefs, he'd come to realize over the past few years that he wasn't the world's greatest dancer. Sure, Seth had enjoyed certain aspects of their time on Hawaii, like Zach having taught them to surf. Seth had actually gotten fairly good at it because, as reluctant as he was to admit it, Zach was a pretty good teacher. And yes, Seth had enjoyed the time at a lot of the museums they'd visited much to Summer's distress, and seeing the volcanoes, and swimming with dolphins on Summer's request had all been pretty great. And it would have been absolutely amazing in Seth's eyes if it wasn't for the fact that Zach had been with them the _entire _time.

Since Zach had lived on Hawaii for a couple of years and he seemingly didn't have anything else to do, he had thought it his own mission to be the newlyweds personal tour guide and had thought it his job to show the couple _everything_. They hadn't had a moment alone together for a week and half, minus the few hours they'd had to sleep every night. And it was just sleep that they did, because Zach would come and wake them every morning at 5 am so he'd be able to take them to their next adventure spot. And since they got in bed at like midnight, they both felt that they needed all the sleep they could get, so besides the first two days that they had spent locked inside their hotel room, there really hadn't been any action between the two of them, they'd barely kissed, and Seth finally thought he'd realized what it was like to live in a convent, or in prison, because this was as close as it could possibly get. This wasn't how marriage life was supposed to be, was it? Because if it was, no matter how much he loved Summer, he would make sure to annul the marriage as soon as he got home to California.

Oh California… home sweet home. Usually, he was very fond of complaining about everything that was wrong with the sunny state, but after this week, he would defend it with his life. He missed everything about being home: his job, his co-workers, his bed, their house, Pancakes, their dog, Ryder, a super sweet pitbull dog that Seth had bought for Summer's birthday a few years ago. He missed the little coffee shop around the corner from where he lived, he missed talking to his brother, and seeing his little sister Sophie who worshiped the ground he walked on… heck, he even missed his mom and dad even though he didn't always want to admit it. But most of all…he missed that California was a place where his wife, Summer Roberts, well now Summer Roberts Cohen because she had refused to drop her own last name completely, in California, she was _his_. No one ever questioned that, or made him feel inferior around Summer or made him feel like he didn't deserve her, when in fact he knew that he probably didn't deserve to be with someone like her. Someone so beautiful, and so smart, so sincere, so motivated, so talented and funny… how could he possibly feel that he was worthy of her? Luckily for him, Summer had never made him feel that way, but he still carried around parts of his high school insecurities in certain situations, and having his wife's mega hot ex-boyfriend around him constantly, was definitely nurturing those insecurities. Because now, it seemed that Summer barely gave a damn about his presence and he had to believe that that was all because of Zach.

Now, half way through dinner at a fancy vegan restaurant, Summer and Zach were busy discussing the destruction of the oceans in the world, and Zach told her about his observations of stranded dolphins covered in oil and it broke Summer's heart to hear about it, animal-friend and vegetarian as she was. Seth was halfheartedly listening to the conversation occasionally nodding or throwing in a short comment to show that he was listening, while he was distractedly pecking in his disgusting bean salad. He'd never been a fan of vegetables anyways.

It hadn't gone unnoticed by Summer how distant Seth had been ever since they had gotten to Hawaii, and she suspected it might have something to do with Zach, but she hadn't wanted to comment it yet. Seth was acting like a baby: moping around, barely participating in any of the activities they went on and pouting whenever Summer suggested they'd do something, and he'd been so cranky and out of it lately that Summer hadn't really _wanted _to hang out with him. She wasn't going to stop herself from having a fun vacation and exploring Hawaii just because Seth was in a bad mood. If he wanted to behave worse than his 6 year old baby sister, then that was fine, but she wasn't going to enable that behavior by giving him what he wanted. Therefore, it had only been natural for her to talk a lot with Zach, who at least at the moment seemed _a lot _more mature than Seth. As it had turned out, she and Zach had a lot in common as well, and he had always been easy to get along with, so they'd found themselves easily slipping into casual conversations about almost anything. Still, she had to admit that she missed her husband. The one she had _married _that was, not the child that had accompanied her on this trip and who had been sulking ever since.

When Seth excused himself to "go to the bathroom" halfway through dinner, she knew that something definitely wasn't right. He had been so quiet all night, and anyone who knew Seth also knew that that was a very rare occurrence, because normally he couldn't shut up. She suspected that it was just that he excused himself for: to talk, and noticing the tiny cell phone that stuck up from the pocket of his pants, she had a feeling whom he was going to call…

Seth had to get some air. He had to talk to someone, and when in need there was only one person who always listened, and that person was number 2 on his speed dial, right after Summer. _"Ryan, hey man", _Seth said after Ryan had answered the phone.

"_Hi, Seth"_, Ryan replied with a genuinely happy, but surprised voice._ "Didn't think I was gonna be hearing from you man while you guys were still in Hawaii."_

"_Yeah, well…", _Seth replied grumpily. "I'd thought so too…", he added bitterly in his own thoughts, remembering how perfect the first two days of their honeymoon had been when they hadn't even once left the hotel room.

"_So how's things going in paradise?", _Ryan asked, having missed the grouchy tone in Seth's voice over the phone. _"Taylor's been watching a lot of weather channel lately and she told me the weather's amazing. That you guys have like 89 degrees down there now. That must be like heaven to you."_

"_And I'm guessing you've heard that hell is pretty warm too? Because that's where I've ended up."_

"_Oh no, sorry man. Has Summer gone all moody and rage blackout on you again?"_

"_I wish…", _Seth sighed dreamily, thinking that would definitely have been a lot easier to cope with. _"No actually… We met Zach on like, our third day here, and ever since, we have spent every breathing minute with him."_

"_Zach? As in Zach Stevens? The water polo player, the guy you sold your comic book too, Summer's ex-boyfriend Zach?_

"_Uh-huh", _Seth nodded although Ryan couldn't see it. _"That's the one."_

"_Ouch…", _Ryan said, remembering how Zach had come between Seth and Summer once before, and how it had taken a long time for them to get back together after that. _"That can't be good…"_

"_Trust me, it's worse. He's been dragging us out of bed at 5 am every morning since we met him to take us on all these daily fieldtrips… And he's been talking to Summer the entire time, like I don't even exist. I think he might even be flirting with her, too. I mean, I get that he thinks she's beautiful, and amazing and all of that, but she's my _wife_, you know?_", Seth said exasperated, emphasizing the wife-part. "_We're here on our _honeymoon_. You know, it's not like we're in high school anymore."_

"_Yeah, I know", _Ryan agreed. Though he knew that Zach was a great guy who's worse fear probably was to hurt _anyone_, he could only imagine how having Zach around would make any guy feel a bit threatened, and knowing Seth, he knew that he probably wasn't handling the situation too gracefully. Therefore, he felt that he had to ask: _"So how are you dealing with it?"_

"_What do you mean?" _Seth inquired, a puzzled expression on his face as if the thought had never occurred to him. A guy was hitting on his _wife_. Was there more ways than one to deal with that?

Ryan took a deep breath, knowing that with Seth's self-centered and slightly narcissistic nature, he definitely needed a good explanation. _"I meant__…__ Do you act maturely and like the married man you are, or do you mope around like the pathetic high school emo geek you've always been?"_

"_I don't mope", _Seth tried to excuse himself in an offended tone, but then his face fell as all of the pieces suddenly started falling into place. _"Oh…", _he said suddenly realizing which of the two alternatives he was probably behaving the most as. It made sense all of a sudden. _That's _why Summer had been so keen on hanging with Zach, he comprehended. She was definitely not a big fan of the cranky, sulky Seth, and that's exactly whom he'd been the last few days. Oh yeah…he totally needed to apologize to Summer…_"I think you're right man. I guess I haven't quite acted my age lately…", _he admitted at last.

Ryan smiled a little at this, adding in his own thoughts that out of his two Cohen siblings, Seth was usually not the most mature one. But he didn't tell Seth that because he was just happy that Seth had come to the conclusion more or less on his own.

Seth, feeling the pressure to try to be a little less self-centered decided to ask Ryan a little instead. _"So…How's Berkeley? How's things going with you and Taylor?"_

"_They're fine", _Ryan answered and then went on to tell Seth a little about their meeting with Veronica and how she and Taylor had at last made peace.

"_Veronica APOLOGIZED to you???!!!"_ Seth practically screamed from shock, but he didn't notice the heads that turned to stare at him. He thought he was having heart palpitations or that Ryan had simply lost his mind, because for as far as Seth could remember, Veronica had been anything but a remorseful mother filled with regret from the attitude and rudeness she had practiced towards most living beings.

Ryan could only laugh at Seth's words, remembering that he had been equally astonished when Veronica had apologized for her behavior towards him, and how she'd thought now that Ryan was a stand up gentleman. It felt good to talk to Seth again and Ryan realized that he'd missed having a guy to talk to since his brother had gone to Hawaii. He was just about to confide in Seth what had been one of his latest concerns, something that he had been brooding about ever since he and Taylor had gotten back from Newport: If things were moving too fast with Taylor. But just as he was about to open his mouth and express his concern, Seth interrupted him.

"_Hey man, I gotta go_", Seth said hurriedly after having just glanced on the clock in the foyer of the restaurant where he was standing and making his call._ "I've been gone for like 15 minutes and I told Zach and Summer that I was just off to the bathroom. But we'll be home in a few days, so I'll see you then. Bye!"_

Seth hung up and swung around to face the entrance of the restaurant again and rush back in so that Summer and Zach wouldn't wonder what he had been up to. But the sight that he saw when he turned around was anything but comforting, and Seth had to admit it was a rather intimidating sight that kinda scared the hell out of him. In front of him stood a familiar woman with her arms folded in front of her chest giving him a disapproving look that Seth knew all too well. _"Uh-oh…", _Seth said, fearing that the woman would go into rage blackout mood any second now.

Snapping his phone shut, Ryan had to admit that he felt a little blown off. He was usually used to Seth's complete self-absorption and had learned to accept it as part of who he was, and perhaps it was part of what Ryan liked about him because it made him take his mind off of worrying about his own problems. But today… he had really wanted, and had needed, to talk to Seth about what was going through his mind. He was nervous. He was really, really palms-dripping-with-sweat and the heart rate-beating-twice-then-normal-speed nervous. Okay, so it might have been a gross comparison, but it was indeed how he felt. He also felt almost as if he was about to faint.

Maybe there was a little too much stuff that was going on in his life at the moment, he comprehended. A lot was happening at once. He had just graduated from the Berkeley architecture program a few weeks ago, then started at an architecture firm a few days after his graduation, then he had ended a relationship with his girlfriend of 18 months, gotten back together with Taylor, she had told him that she was pregnant, and most shockingly of all: he had gotten an apology from Veronica Townsend. And in two days was his and Taylor's first ultrasound. _"Breathe, Ryan, breathe…",_ he kept telling himself over and over again for the thousandth time.

When he thought about it, it was all good changes. Graduating with honors and immediately landing a good job, nothing to complain about right? And being back together with the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and expecting their first child, that was good stuff, wasn't it? He wanted to be there for this child and he adored Sophie and little Jared… _So why the hell was he so freaked out?_ He felt like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown triggered by good stuff and it was all very much unlike him. He didn't even recognize himself. He was rambling pros and cons list in his head mumbling it barely audible, scratching his head like a chimpanzee and pacing the apartment like a mad person. _"God, what am I doing?", _he wondered aloud heaving a big sigh.

"_I've just been wondering the same thing", _he heard a voice saying behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw Taylor standing at the threshold of the living room, obviously having been watching him for quite some time. Not that he would've needed to turn around and see her to recognize her voice. He would've been able to identify it anywhere at anytime, but seeing her once again gave him, as it always did, the familiar sensation of complete relaxation yet made him feel…tense and excited at the same time. He only felt it with her, and it was a good feeling, if only a bit peculiar, but then again, so were they. They didn't fit. No matchmaking company would ever have set the two of them up on a date, yet somehow, they _did _fit. Somehow, they were perfect for each other, completed the other… and made sense. And no one who saw the two of them together could deny how much they loved each other. They were right for each other, and if Ryan for whatever reasons ever doubted that, all he needed to do was to see her once again, to have her take his breath away completely for the millionth time, and all his doubts went away. And it was just the same this day. The second he saw her, every worry that had been occupying his mind… just went away. Now if that wasn't love… then what was? She was either that or some sort of intoxicating drug… or maybe a little bit of both.

The second he'd seen her…his mind had gone blank and he found himself unable to remember what he had been thinking of. So instead, he turned around and smiled at her, genuinely happy to see her, and walked over to her and gave her a sweet welcome home-kiss. _"Hey…How long have you been standing here?"_

"_Long enough", _she grinned mischievously, but then her face went more serious, and Ryan watched as a slight look of concern shot up and wrinkled that pretty little forehead of hers as she took his hands and met his eyes. _"So… what were you thinking about?"_

"_Nothing special…", _Ryan half-lied, struggling to remember what exactly it was that he had been thinking of, but knowing at the same time that it was something important. But it was hard to remember now when he could hardly breathe around her, let alone think.

"_So there's nothing bothering you…?" _Taylor wondered gently, stroking his hand encouragingly with her soft fingers.

"_Nope…", _Ryan murmured as he closed his eyes, now feeling a if he was losing his mind. Her simplest touch did that to him, and it was overwhelmingly difficult to feel himself losing control like that every time he was around her, yet it was the most amazing feeling ever.

"_Good!" _Taylor exclaimed happily with a wide smile spreading across her face. _"Because I have something to tell you that I've been thinking about quite a lot lately… with the baby on the way and everything…"_

"_Uh-huh…", _Ryan said, trying to stay focused on what she had to say, but finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate from her distracting touch. He just wanted to throw himself over her and kiss her and-

"_I've been thinking that we should move in together."_

Uh-oh. There it was. Another change. Ryan just felt his head spinning. He wasn't ready for this, he really wasn't. But Taylor looking at him like that.. With those pleading puppy eyes…All Ryan could do was nod even though all of his senses were screaming at him to say no, or say that he wasn't ready. To say _anything._ But to his own horror, he'd found himself nodding, and then a happy Taylor threw her arms around him and let out a thrilled: _"Yay!"_ And he knew that he had done the wrong thing. He really knew. But seeing how happy Taylor was, he also knew that now, he would never be able to take it back. It was too late to slow things down now…It was too late.

**Author's Note: This was kinda a filler chapter for me to get back in the game. In the next chapter SS will spend their last few days at Hawaii, RT will go on their ultrasound and there'll be some Kaitlin, and in the chapter after that, they will all meet at The Cohens'. Please tell me what you thought of this one in a long review, because the more reviews I get the faster I'll update. This time, it won't take as long. It's already half written so it won't be more than a couple of days. Take care, and please review!**


	6. The Moment When Everything Changes

**Author's Note:**_So I've been really busy lately with work and my Harry Potter-obsession, and I've also struggled a lot with writing this chapter which is why it hasn't been up until now. Sorry for the wait, but at least this one is the longest one yet and it includes all the major characters of this story as well as a new introduction... And if it doesn't live up to your expectations… The next one will be better I hope. But please review and tell me what you think! It really means more than anything to me. Again, a huge thanks to my dear friend Sharon…Thank you so much for always inspiring me and bouncing ideas with me! What was I doing before we started talking? (And if there're any readers out there named Katie, I hope you know that I mean nothing offensive by the comment, since I myself, happen to love the name). _

**Chapter 6:The Moment When Everything Changes**

"_Uh-oh…", _Seth repeated as his eyes fell on to the woman he'd just recently gotten around to calling his wife. He was in BIG trouble. Her eyes were glowing with a fierce passion that Seth assumed was rage, because it always was with her. As much as he loved her… she had a serious temper. She was a lot stronger than she looked, he knew this from firsthand experience having been punched quite a few times by that impressive right hook and hers, and you really didn't want to get on her bad side… This much, Seth had known for years and years, yet still he always managed to find strange reasons to piss her off.

He had gotten very well at reading her over the ten years they had known each other so he was usually able to duck or jump aside when he saw that angry flash in the hazel eyes of hers that almost turned black when she was about to have a rage blackout. As the coward he was, he most often ran away when he saw that look, but today, in the restaurant entrance where they were standing, there was nowhere to hide…and she was walking straight towards him. Expecting a punch in the face any second, or at least a yell that would cause a Howler to seem like no big deal, Seth shut his eyes with a wincing grimace, his body tensing as if to prepare himself for the pain he knew he was about to experience. Any second now…

But to his surprise, he didn't receive the awaited black eye he'd expected to receive. Instead, he heard Summer's voice, and it was a lot softer than he'd imagined even if it still carried a tone of annoyance.

"_What are you _doing_?"_ she wondered, emphasizing the doing-part. Clearly, even after ten years of knowing him, his weirdness still found ways to surprise her. The ugly face he was making caused her to roll her eyes at his dramatic reaction just from seeing her, and she was a little impatient with him now, having hung out with _baby_ Seth for nearly two weeks. Anyone was bound to be annoyed by that, and Summer was certainly not an exception.

Seth opened his left eye first to see if the coast was clear, and noticing that Summer stood there with her arms crossed looking annoyed, yet not angry, caused him to release the breathe he'd been holding in without even realizing it. His whole body relaxed as he opened both eyes after deciding that, at least for now, he was safe. _"What do you mean?" _he asked her, playing the innocence-card as he quickly shoveled his cell phone down his jeans pocket, praying she wouldn't notice.

But of course she did, attentive as she was. _"That", _she said, pointing at the bump that was his phone.

_Damn it! _Why couldn't he be more stealth and sneaky! Okay, time for a different approach. _"I was just calling Ryan, so what?"_ he said in his best attempt to sound casual.

"_You said you were going to the bathroom 15 minutes ago", _she reminded him.

Oh! She was so much better than him at playing this game! Where had all his high school discretion and furtiveness gone after high school? Wasn't he supposed to be a pathological liar, or something? Where was that ability when you needed it? Scanning his head for some of that old Seth as he desperately tried to think of an excuse, he just got nervous. _"Well…um, I-"_

"_Whatever Seth, I didn't come here to interrogate you about that"_, she said with a much softer voice as she allowed her arms to fall to her side as she walked towards him. "_Let's go outside and talk instead."_ And by that, she grasped his arm and lead him to one of the restaurants tables by the entrance door outside in the sun.

Not wasting any time, she cut straight to the chase. _"So you__'__re jealous of Zach, huh?"_

He was slightly taken back by the sudden question, but then realized he shouldn't have been surprised. She was his wife after all, and if Ryan who was hundreds of miles away had been able to predict his behavior over the phone, then Summer, who was better at reading him than anyone else, must've figured out a long time ago why Seth had been acting so strangely. Probably a much longer time than he himself had realized it. Seth sighed a little, coming to the conclusion that it was definitely for the best to be honest in this kind of situation and therefore admitted, in a tiny voice that made him sound smaller than a bumblebee: _"Maybe a little." _

"_Yeah, I can see that. And you know what? I don't blame you." _Seth opened his mouth to object to this as he would've thought his wife would've been a little bit more supportive in the situation, but she just went on in an almost dreamy voice, watching the sunset as she said: _"Zach seems to have it all, doesn't he? I mean, he's got this really successful surf shop, a great house, the most gorgeous environmentally friendly car I've seen…and he's got a killer bod with muscles in all the right places…" _

"_Okay, okay, I get the picture!" _Seth interrupted, not wanting to hear any more. He wasn't really liking the direction the conversation was going in.

Summer continued as if she hadn't heard what he'd just said. _"But you know what I__'__ve realized these past couple of days that we__'__ve spent with Zach?"_

"_That he's also the nicest guy you've ever met…", _Seth muttered bitterly under his breath. _"Saint Stevens…"_

"_He's lonely…We've been with him for almost every day now since we got here, and not once have we met any of his friends, and he doesn't have a girlfriend either…"_ And then, meeting his eyes for the first time since the start of the conversation, she took his hand in her ownas she said: _"And you have me…"_

She said it ever so softly that Seth just couldn't help but to feel relaxed and safe again. No matter how incredible Zach was, it was Seth that Summer had married, and it was Seth that she was spending the rest of her life with… And the kiss that she then planted on his lips to which he responded to with a great eagerness, made him even more sure of that.

"_Now how about that we go back into that restaurant and tell Zach that we've very much appreciated everything he's done for us…" _Seth rolled his eyes at this, muttering sarcastically something about a thank you he would never be able to repay, but Summer ignored the remark and continued in a firm and confident voice: _"And then tell him that we would like to spend the rest of our honeymoon just the two of us alone together."_

And Seth couldn't help but to smile when Summer continued: _"'Cause I'd like to relive the first few days of our honeymoon that we spent locked up in the hotel…"_

And between the kisses, Seth could only respond: _"So do I, Summer…So do I…"_

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"_Kaitlin! All your stuff has arrived now, San Antonio just came with it after Hanoi had flown it over, it's time to get up."_

"_What..?" _Kaitlin asked in a grumpy voice heavy from sleep, completely disoriented and struggling to open her eyes. She had always been a night owl and whatever the hour was now it seemed _way_ too early for anyone too be so happy and perky as her mother was. Kaitlin couldn't remember her mother ever being like this, as far as Kaitlin knew her mom had always liked to sleep in, but she certainly had changed over the years since she'd had Jared.

"_Kaitlin! Kaitlin! You're up!" _Her baby brother exclaimed and jumped into her bed threw himself into her arms. He was already dressed and looked like he'd been up for quite a while.

"_Hey little guy… You up already?" _she wondered yawning. She knew her brother was a real ray of sunshine in the mornings, up at the crack of dawn, something she had never been able to understand and therefore could never get used to.

"_Katie… It's seven o'clock… I've been up _forever_", _Jared said rolling his eyes impatiently, emphasizing the word forever as if she was a little slow. Kaitlin grunted at the nickname he used on her. She liked either being called Kaitlin, or Kay which her friends from Williams had decided to call her halfway through her freshman year and the nickname had stuck since, but something about the name Katie made her think of someone… like a blonde cheerleader or a sorority girl… just someone that wasn't her.

"_Is that right?", _Kaitlin teased and tickled his tummy a little with a mischievous grin. _"And how long is forever?" _

"_Like… an eternity", _the little boy replied laughing and trying to rid himself from his older sisters tickle attack, and it made Kaitlin laugh. Just being around Jared always put a smile on her face because he was always so damn happy, and something about the way he often said things like that made him seem so mature for his age and…like an old soul almost. But then again, he wasn't a baby anymore, he was 5 and a half, which he was very keen on pointing out if someone was to say he was five. Apparently those six months added a dignity and pride that was undeserved for the just 5-year olds.

But then again, Jared was more mature than most five year olds, and he was also very bright. He had already learned to read since reading books was his favorite thing in the world, and he had learned the entire alphabet and could count to 20 and do simple forms of Maths, like 5+2. He just loved learning and Kaitlin knew he would become a real nerd growing up unless she taught him a little about being cool…So she'd made sure to buy some cool clothes to him if she'd gone to New York for the weekend, and she would always come home with a cool toy, that he would play with for hours in a row.

So she liked to spoil her little brother, so what? She saw him so rarely that when she finally did, she wanted to treat him, and she could always see how thankful he was for everything he got. He was so different than both Kaitlin herself and Marissa had been as kids, both spoiled and snobby, both insecure of themselves, whereas Jared was forward, safe and joyful, and very polite and grateful. It wasn't all the stuff she gave him that made him the most happy, no, it was always when Kaitlin came to play with him. No matter what they played or did together being with Kaitlin always made his eyes sparkle with excitement and enjoyment, so Kaitlin was happy to spend time with him. He just _adored_ her and looked up to her, even more so with her than with Ryan, whom he also loved and respected and whom he met a lot more often, Ryan being the responsible big brother that he was to both of his younger siblings.

Her mother had raised him right, and Kaitlin had really come to respect her over the past few years. It was hard to remember how Julie had been as a mother when Kaitlin had been growing up and the contrast was unbelievable. Julie was a completely different person, and even if she didn't always show it, Kaitlin was really proud of the woman her mother had become. But there were also parts of this new woman that drove Kaitlin more insane than the old one. Kaitlin loved her mom, but living with her like this at the age of 22, was suffocating her. The seven am wake up calls were only a reminder of how much she really needed to get out of the house.

That reminded her of something very important she had on the agenda today: She needed to look for an apartment. She'd been looking through the apartment ads in the morning papers in secret ever since she'd returned home, and had found a few interesting places to look at, one of which she was planning to inspect today. Remembering this suddenly made her feel filled with energy, and to her mother's surprise, she hopped off the bed looking as if she'd been up for hours, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she headed for the door.

"_Where are you going?" _Julie demanded with a mixture of curiosity and desperation in anticipation to hear her daughter's answer.

"_To take a shower", _Kaitlin replied with a roll of her eyes, ruffling her little brother's dark hair on her way out of her room. _She's really gotten clingy lately_, the girl thought to herself, not having forgotten that Julie had made her come home before nine every night the past two weeks because she'd wanted 'to talk and hang out'. And as much as Kaitlin liked her mom… nine pm was quite a curfew for graduate student, and it was suffocating all of the independence she so desperately needed and had gotten used to over the past years. As Kaitlin stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to warm her up and fill her with energy, she sighed, knowing what she had to do. _I really have to get out of this place._

Therefore, after a quick shower, she got dressed and ready and then headed for the door telling her mom she was going to the mall to look for the perfect Welcome Home-present for Seth and Summer, because Taylor had invited the entire extended Cohen family to celebrate the newlyweds homecoming with a surprise party. A total lie of course. Well, not the party, Taylor really had fixed that, inviting everyone to it the second Seth and Summer had left for the airport, but of course, Julie already knew that since she was part of the Cohen-clan nowadays. But the present shopping thing had been the only good excuse Kaitlin had been able to think of, even though Taylor had in no way said that this was required when she'd started planning the get-together.

The excuse hadn't really been a good one, but it had however gotten her out of the house and now Kaitlin found herself in the apartment of her dreams. _It's perfect_… she thought to herself. Not only was it completely central, just a 15 minute drive from Berkeley campus where she was getting her masters in the fall, but it was also the perfect size for a young girl living solo for the first time. With the right décor, Kaitlin could easily picture herself living there and she was really trying to focus on what the realtor was saying when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a guy reached out a hand for her to shake.

"_Hi. I'm Danny", _the guy introduced himself with a cocky smile. There was just something about him, his arrogance most likely, that made her feel sick. If there was one quality she despised more in people than any other it was just arrogance, and this guy, whoever he was, was clearly full of it. Appearance-wise, he was what most people would consider a down-right hottie: about 6'2 tall with really dark brown hair, deep green eyes, the built of a basketball player, and a dimple in his right cheek. _But_, he was obviously aware of the fact that most people would find him attractive, and Kaitlin found herself thinking that maybe, if he would've wiped the smugness out of his face, then there might've been a possibility that she could've considered him. But just _maybe. _

However as the situation was now, there was nothing attractive about this self-introduced Danny at all, and Kaitlin almost felt disgust at the though of shaking his hand. He'd most likely consider it an invite to her bedroom if she did so. This guy obviously knew what he wanted and she knew guys like that always got it, and the way he was looking at her now… It clearly indicated that his next victim was standing right in front of him, and it made her want to punch him in the face. He looked so…smug. And Kaitlin really couldn't stand that.

"_Hi",_ she responded, her voice dripping with disgust as she plastered on a fake smile, leaning him into the false belief that he had won her over. _This guy really needs a serious lobotomy_, Kaitlin found herself thinking before saying: _"And I'm not interested." _With those words she walked away from the guy without so much as a second glance, joining the other spectators and the realtor whom had already moved onto the living room.

But the guy obviously wouldn't take the hint, because Kaitlin could feel his presence as he followed her into the living room, tailing her closely. _"__So__…__d__o __you wanna come over to my place for a little dinner, dessert, breakfast__…__" _He wondered, continuing as though Kaitlin hadn't just rejected him like he was a rabies-infected rat.

Kaitlin unwillingly turned around to look at him, amazed how anyone could be so clueless. She heaved a big sigh and with a roll of her eyes asked: _"__Has that line ever worked for you?__"_

Danny didn't look taken aback by her question. Instead, he seemed even more intrigued by her, and looked intrigued at her as if she was a unicorn or something. _"__I don__'__t know. You tell me.__"_

"_Um, no", _Kaitlin answered coolly as she tried to focus on what the real estate agent was saying and turned her back against him again, hoping that he would take the hint this time as her body language practically screamed: LEAVE ME ALONE!

"_Why not? Don't you like me?"_ Danny wanted to know. Okay, this was creeping her out a little. First he'd given her a cocky ass-smile as if she'd been about to knee the ground and kiss his feet, and now he was sounding like a desperate clingy high school boyfriend?

"_I don't even know you", _she said with a tone that clearly indicated she didn't want to either.

Danny just smiled by this remark._"__Obviously that__'__s not going to change if you don__'__t say yes.__"_ _There's something about this girl_, he thought to himself. It wasn't just the fact that this was the first girl ever to blow him off since junior high, but she just had some kind of energy that made him curious about her and anxious to get under her skin to find out who she was. She was different than any other person he'd ever met, and that's what made her so fascinating.

"_I don't even _want_ to get to know you",_ Kaitlin answered with her arms crossed and her weight resting on one of her hips in an almost bored matter.

Danny flashed another confident smile at her_"__Of course you do.__"_

This comment caused Kaitlin to raise an eyebrow and she gave him a very skeptical look. What was this guy's problem? Was he deaf or something? Hadn't he heard a word of what she'd just said? Any sane person, no matter how clueless, would've figured out by now that she really, sincerely, and completely, was NOT in any way interested in him.

"_Oh come on…At least you don't hate me."_ He said it in the most charming voice he possessed as he flashed another bright smile at her and kinked one of his eyebrows as if he was trying to look cute. That _always_ worked.

Obviously, he hadn't ever been turned down before, and he had yet to add the understanding of the word 'rejection' to his vocabulary, indicating that he clearly wasn't as bright or as cool as he wanted to think he was. There was nothing about this guy that impressed Kaitlin, except perhaps his persistence. He just wouldn't give up, and it was seriously starting to annoy the hell out of her. Therefore, in the coldest and most displeased voice she could master (and that came rather easy to her), she said: _"__No, but ask me out one more time and I can__'__t make any promises.__"_

And with those words she left the entire apartment tour, never once looking back to see the completely appalled and amazed look on his face as his eyes followed her out the door. His mouth remained gaping open for a long, long time after she'd left, and he thought to himself that he was definitely going to have to find a way to get in touch with her again. That's when he noticed that she had left her purse behind…

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_Today's the day, _had been Ryan's first thought when he'd opened his eyes that morning. _Today's the day of the ultrasound. _The realization had given him a set of very mixed emotions as he was both feeling excited, and anxious at the same time. He was a little afraid too, he couldn't help but to admit to himself, and he would've loved to share his fears with the woman who was sitting next to him whom he called the love of his life. Or share them with Seth, or Sandy, or heck, even that stranger standing by the coffee machine, but… he hadn't. He hadn't shared his concerns with anyone, having barely admitted them to himself until a few seconds ago.

He'd tried to confide in Seth two nights ago when he'd called him from Hawaii, but Seth had hung up on him before he'd been given the chance, and now the lovebirds were on their way home from the tropical island, and he knew he wouldn't get an opportunity to talk to Seth for quite a while. Tonight, there would be the Welcome Home-party for the newlyweds that Taylor had insisted on and planned which the whole extended Cohen-family would attend, and he knew that there would be no chances then, because everyone would want to hear everything about their adventures in Hawaii. And after this weekend, things would return to normal, meaning that Seth would do nothing but work, and Ryan would be left brooding on his own.

He hadn't wanted to tell Taylor, because…well, he just hadn't wanted to worry her. If she'd known that he was having somewhat of an internal constant panic-attack, then she would probably freak out, and he didn't want to risk that in the state that she was in now: Pregnant and emotional. Sure, so far there hadn't been much evidence of those crazy pregnancy hormones that everyone always talked about, but knowing Taylor, and knowing how testy Kirsten had been occasionally while pregnant with Sophie, he knew that that was bound to come, and he didn't want to be the thing that would set that whole package of dynamite off.

As things were now, Taylor was surprisingly calm, not to mention happy, and she deserved to be so. After everything she had gone through over the past year: with Ryan's girlfriend at the time, the surprise pregnancy, and then the whole quarrel with her mom… Even if things had worked out for the best in the end, the last thing he wanted was to upset her again. And telling her that having this baby, though it would surely be great, kinda scared the hell out of him at the same time, was definitely going to upset her. They still hadn't really talked about the whole moving-in-together thing. Taylor had just said that she was going to put the apartment up for sale and hopefully a buyer would take interest soon enough. Yes, hopefully, Ryan had said trying to keep up a straight face but still revealing a sense of disappointment in his eyes. He really didn't know what it was that made moving in together so frightening, but he knew that it definitely made him feel overwhelmed, and this day was bound to add to that emotion.

Right now, he and Taylor were waiting outside… in the waiting room… waiting, surprisingly enough, because apparently, that's what you do in waiting rooms. They'd arrived almost 15 minutes early because he had driven there faster than he'd intended, pushing the speed limit a little, eager to get there…which had resulted in the long wait of course, as the previous patient had already ran 10 minutes past their time. What could possibly be taking them so long? Ryan had always considered himself a rather patient man… but now he was squirming in his chair, drumming his fingers on his knee, anxious to get the whole thing over with. Was he nervous? Why was he nervous? What if there was something wrong? What if the doctor told them that things didn't look normal? What if- ? God, he was rambling inside of his head… he usually never did this. There was nothing to be nervous about, was there? He dried his palms on his jeans. Was it hot in here, or what? Or maybe his tie was on a little too tight, he realized, so he loosened it a little.

His crazy squirming and the pearls of sweat slowly dripping down his forehead hadn't gone unnoticed by Taylor. She turned to look at him and rested a soft, warm hand on his shoulder as she started speaking in a soothing voice. _"Ryan, relax. It's just an ultrasound. It's not a big deal. I mean, we already know that the baby is in there and living, my daily 3 am vomiting wake up calls have insured us of that, and I'm sure that nothing is wrong. I have a good feeling about this. So just RELAX!"_

Her well-intended words put a little smile on his face, but at the same time it also made him feel even more freaked out. Taylor was telling him to relax. Now he _knew_ that something was definitely wrong with him. Taylor was always the one who was completely wired, a non-stop rambler who was totally compulsive and slightly insane, while he was usually her calm counterpart with the mission to help soothe her when she had one of her panic attacks. But now, for once, he was the one freaking out while she was trying to calm _him_ down. Ryan found himself thinking that if he'd ever tell Seth this, he'd say something like: "Taylor calm and you freaking out? The apocalypse really is upon us!" And partly, that was probably true. Something definitely _was _wrong with the world. And not in the way that Summer always nagged about when she talked as Al Gore's protégé, but in the sense that the roles really had turned.

Ryan was just about to respond saying he _was_ relaxed, but then all of a sudden someone called out: _"Townsend!"_

Ryan and Taylor both got to their feet to meet the man which the voice belonged to. He was about 55 years old with graying hair, a few lines around his face and kind blue eyes, Ryan noted as he shook the mans hand. The doctor introduced himself as dr. Austin, and then he lead them inside the room and offered Ryan to take a seat in the chair next to bed where he instructed Taylor to lie down.

"_So, miss Townsend, I take it this is the father-to-be?"_ dr. Austin asked nodding in Ryan's direction, and Taylor nodded happily as a smile spread across her face.

"_He's what made you change your mind?"_ the doctor continued in the same kind voice and flashed them a warm smile, but this time his question wasn't met with the same enthusiasm. Ryan met his eyes with a bewildered look, and Taylor gave the doctor a polite nod, then looked down the floor to avoid his gaze.

It was almost as if she recognized him… Ryan thought to himself. As if she'd been there before… _He's what made you change your mind?_ The question kept sounding in his head as Ryan realized that there must be more to the story than Taylor had led on. He was just about to open his mouth to question Taylor about it, but then the doctor started speaking again, this time about what they would be doing at the appointment today.

"_So… you guys ready for this?" _he asked them finally, after having gone into detail about how the ultrasound worked, and how they would be able to hear the baby's heartbeat and see the baby on the monitor.

"_Yes!" _Taylor squeaked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She'd been looking forward to the day for weeks now, ever since she'd first made the appointment, and now it was finally here! They'd be able to see and hear their baby for the first time! All of her concerns, and all of her doubts about how Ryan was handling the situation… everything that had been buzzing around in her mind leaving her sleepless for several nights… All of it… disappeared the second he'd said those words. Instead she felt all bubbly and energized like a child on Christmas morning, only more so than she actually had been as a child on Christmas, because alongside the presents, there'd always been the constant fighting between her parents, both in drunken stupors.

But now… as dr. Austin was pouring the cold gel over her not yet rounded stomach, she was in nothing but a completely blissful state. She knew of course, somewhere in the back of her mind that there was a possibility that the doctor would tell them that something was wrong, but the biggest part of her was convinced that that wasn't going to happen. She had a good feeling about this, the same feeling that had filled her up at Seth's and Summer's wedding just over two weeks ago when Ryan's eyes had locked with her own; the feeling that everything was going to be ok.

The second the doctor turned the monitor on, Ryan was overcome with an emotion very similar to the one which the woman carrying his unborn child was experiencing: he was overcome with the strange and unfamiliar sense of peace. Ryan took Taylor's hand in his own, and he felt her squeezing it back as the first sounds of their baby's heartbeat filled the room. A strange, steady rhythm echoed throughout the room and it was unlike any sound Ryan had ever heard in his entire life… It was magical, amazing, and Ryan could only remember ever getting that feeling when he was around Taylor. The feeling that this sound produced in him… he'd never felt it from a sound before, except possibly when he heard Taylor's laugh… It was a sensation of complete amazement and bliss. As if there was no evil in the entire world, only hope and happiness. That was what he experienced in this moment.

Then, he and Taylor turned their attention to the screen in front of them, and at first, Ryan couldn't really locate where the baby was from the blurry darkness of the monitor, but then the doctor pointed it out for them… Ryan felt Taylor grip his hand even harder as tears of joy started pouring down her face and ruining her previously perfect make up, and though Ryan didn't cry, he might as well had. He hadn't been prepared to feel this… To feel so... overpowered… so overwhelmed, but in such a good way. This what was life was all about, wasn't it? This was it. This was happiness. This was everything that had ever mattered in the world.

"_That's our baby there!" _Taylor exclaimed through the tears as her eyes met Ryan's. Ryan had never before in his life seen a person so happy, but he imagined his face reflected the same emotions. He just nodded slowly at her words, and allowed a giant smile to spread across his entire face as he leaned closer to her. Then he kissed her. Even as he did so, he couldn't stop smiling and neither could she. Her lips responded eagerly to the kiss as their saliva mixed with her tears of joy, and in that moment, neither of them cared about the doctor that was right there watching them, or about the awkwardness that they had felt over the past couple of days, and Ryan forgot all about the doctor's strange comment at the beginning of the session. All of those things had fallen into oblivion the second he had heard that sound and then laid eyes on his unborn child for the first time.

It didn't matter now, as it was a kiss that expressed everything in that neither of them would ever be able to explain or put to words. Ryan wanted to tell her that he was sorry for the way he had behaved lately, but he knew she understood. They both understood the other in that moment, and words were just unnecessary. Nothing anyone said could make any difference. What was important was that the baby was fine, and that they had each other. It was all that mattered.

**A/N:**_ Please review! You guys have no idea how much that would mean to me!_


	7. The Homecoming

**Author's Note: Another chapter... I tried uploading it yesterday but there was something wrong with the site. I know I'm starting to repeat myself, but I want to say thanks to Sharon again... and a huge thanks to my loyal reviewers. Thank you sooo much guys!**

**Chapter 7: The Homecoming**

"_Finally! We're home!" _Seth said the second he saw his front door. As soon as they got out of the car Seth put his hands together as if he was to pray, and then, turning his eyes to the sky he said, in a voice filled with gratitude: _"Thank you."_

Summer rolled her eyes at her husband's melodramatic gesture as they made their way to the front door. _"Oh come on! It wasn't that awful!" _she objected half laughing.

"_Hmm… Let me think…, " _he said sarcastically. _"Which part? The part where Zach woke us up every morning before sunrise, or the part where he forced us to spend every awake second with him?"_

"_Okay, so those parts were less fun," _Summer admitted reluctantly. _"But I didn't hear you complaining those last nights…," _she added seductively as she pulled him closer into a kiss.

"_Mmm…I seem to have forgotten about those… Maybe you could refresh my memory?" _Seth suggested playfully while digging for the keys in his jeans pocket without pulling away from his wife's embrace.

Finding them, he pushed them into the lock habitually, still passionately involved in the kiss as the door swung open.

"_SURPRISE!"_

The newlyweds jumped ten feet apart in shock, Summer practically choking on Seth's saliva as they did so. They both turned to face the giant mass of people standing in their hallway, all familiar faces: Taylor beaming at them, Ryan standing with an almost apologetic look on his face, Kaitlin looking slightly disgusted by catching them in the middle of a make out-session, Sophie looking thrilled at the prospect of regaining two playmates, Jared turning a pair of hopeful eyes towards Seth, eager to borrow another comic book from him, and Sandy, Kirsten and Julie all looking rather neutral.

"_Um… hi guys!" _Summer said rather unwillingly, still not having quite gotten over the shock. She certainly hadn't expected them all to be there, but she had a feeling it was Taylor who was behind all of it.

"_Ohmigosh! Summer, I've missed you sooo much!"_ Taylor exclaimed running into her friends arms and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"_Yeah, Taylor, I've missed you too," _Summer said halfheartedly. All she had wanted was to go home, get some rest and relax. A party was a nice idea… very Taylor-ish, but nice, yet neither what she had expected, nor hoped for. Of course, Taylor couldn't know how much their honeymoon had sucked (because, although Summer was very reluctant to admit it to Seth due to the fact that she hated to hear the 'I told you so' speeches, there was no denying that it had). Summer turned to look at her husband who too looked slightly overwhelmed by the get-together, but didn't seem nearly as tired, probably because he'd had about a gallon of coffee at the airplane.

"_So, did we surprise you guys?" _Taylor demanded with a grin that revealed all of those pearly whites. She was practically jumping up and down in her usually ecstatic mood, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"_You sure did…," _Seth had to admit, glaring at his brother for not having stopped the whole thing, but Ryan merely shrugged in reply, indicating he had nothing to do with the whole ordeal.

"_YAY!" _At Seth's words, Taylor clapped her hands together, and actually _jumped_ up and down in excitement. Summer just shook her head, left amazed and wondering where the woman in front of her, who was in the middle of the worst nausea part of the pregnancy, got all of her energy from. She wasn't even allowed to drink coffee anymore as far as Summer knew.

After that, Taylor went into an inquisitive mood and told Summer to spill on every detail of the honeymoon, and finally she gave in and she started sharing all the juicy details.

Yes, the surprise homecoming-party certainly hadn't been what they'd expected, but soon enough, all of the guests seemed to find it rather enjoyable. Sophie and Jared were, as always, happy to play with each other, Sandy were, at the moment, hanging out with Julie and Kirsten, only giving an occasional roll with the eyes if the subjects turned too girly, and Kaitlin, Seth, Summer, Taylor and Ryan were standing in the living room catching up on recent events. Kaitlin was just sharing, quietly enough for the conversation not to be overheard by Julie, that her mom was driving her insane with her wake-up methods and curfews.

Seth was muttering something that sounded strangely much like _"Try having that on your honeymoon…"_, but Summer slapped his arm before he had the chance to finish the sentence.

Suddenly, the sound of the doorbell rang throughout the living room.

_"I'll get it," _Kaitlin offered since she was the closest to the door, leaving behind Taylor, Ryan, Summer and Seth alone to talk.

"_So how was the ultrasound?" _Summer asked eagerly as she turned to her best friend, feeling it was her time to ask the questions. _"It's my godson or goddaughter in there, after all."_

"_Oh my god, it was SO amazing!" _Taylor practically yelled, nearly bursting with excitement. It was as if she'd been holding all of it in because she hadn't wanted to spoil the evening with her ramblings, but now that Summer had asked, it seemed that all of it exploded like a balloon when pinched by a needle. The words and details started pouring out of her as if she'd been waiting her whole life to describe this moment, and Summer was more than happy to listen to Taylor's ramble about the sounds of the baby's heart beats, and then how Taylor went on about seeing the child for the first time. _"Oh! I totally brought the picture along if you want to see!"_

"_Of course!" _Summer squeaked excitedly, and Taylor had already started rummaging the contents of her purse.

Ryan and Seth just stood there watching their ladies gushing and awing over the little white peanut-shaped dot on the picture. Ryan smiled as he listened to Taylor's voice describing everything with great enthusiasm, waving hands in the air to illustrate with her body language everything that had happened in that room. She was definitely gifted in the art of storytelling, Ryan noted for the millionth time, as she was able to describe everything so vividly that he felt as though he was back in that room again. And that's when he remembered it; the doctor's strange words: _"He's what made you change your mind?" _

What _did _that mean? Right after the ultrasound, Ryan had been just as caught up in a state of bliss as Taylor still was, but now a few hours later, her story got him thinking about that. Was there something Taylor hadn't told him? Come to think of it, Ryan had never asked her what she had planned to do with the baby when they had still been apart. Had she planned on keeping it and raising it as Ben's? Had she planned an abortion? Had she even planned on telling Ryan she was pregnant? The questions shot straight at him out of seemingly nowhere, but he definitely felt that the topic was to severe to ignore. Obviously, since they were all gathered to celebrate Seth's and Summer's homecoming, this wasn't the right opportunity to interrogate her about it, but Ryan made a mental note to ask her later.

Seth however, had other things on his mind. He had very mixed feelings as he saw how Summer was completely blown away by the picture and Taylor's words. He knew more than anyone how much Summer loved children and how badly she wanted a family. About three years ago, they had gotten seriously involved in discussing their future as a couple, and as it had turned out: they'd wanted really different things. Seth had wanted to focus on his career at the time, while Summer had told him that as much as her career meant to her, it wasn't nearly as important to her as having a family. It had caused quite a crack in their relationship, but eventually they had realized that being together was more important than anything else. Knowing that Summer loved him so much that she was willing to give up the only thing she had ever really wanted to be with him, made him love her that much more. But it also made him feel immensely guilty. He didn't want her to have to give up anything to be with him, she had almost given up GEORGE for him which had eventually turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Now, they hadn't brought up the subject of children for years. Still, Seth knew that it was Summer's deepest wish, and she always got a sort of distant, dreamy look whenever she saw a baby, and this time, as she looked on the ultrasound picture, was no different.

He wanted to give her everything… he really did… And living in Berkeley and spending more time with his little sister, and with his niece or nephew on the way, Seth had to admit he wasn't as opposed the idea of having kids as he once had been… And maybe one day he would cave and give Summer what she'd always wanted… But the idea also scared him a lot, and he was sort of doing a very un-Seth like thing by brooding about it inside of his head. Oh god! Was he turning into Ryan? Was he going to punch someone in a matter of seconds without being able to stop himself?

As soon as the thought had struck him, a sense of panic began to creep over him. Therefore, he decided to strike up a conversation with Ryan to get his mind off of it all. _"__So it__'__s all becoming kinda real now, isn__'__t it?" _he asked Ryan, nodding in the direction of the ultrasound picture, not noticing that for the first time in 15 minutes, he also had the girls' attention. _"I mean, in like a few months you__'__re gonna have two freaking Townsend tornados running around the house, rambling nonstop and you__'__ll never be able to utter a single word."_

"_Oh, so it will be kinda like now, when talking to you?"_ Ryan replied with a half smile.

"_Haha, Ryan, VERY funny," _Seth said sarcastically trying to make his voice heard above the girls' laughter. They had heard every word of their conversation and were laughing their asses off from Ryan's joke. _"I'm supposed to be the funny one!" _Seth complained jealously. And then, facing his brother: _"You know, I really did like you better when you were broody."_

This only made the girls laugh harder and even caused Ryan to smile.

Kaitlin however, wasn't laughing. Having expected to see the Bullitt standing on the other side of the door, she'd happily swung it open, but instead she'd been met by another familiar face, only one she had neither expected nor hoped to see.

"_You," _she said through gritted teeth, her eyes narrowing in displeasure at the sight of him.

_"Hi," _Danny said, flashing, in his opinion at least, a charming smile.

_"Uh-uh," _he said in a devilish sweet voice, shaking his head slowly as he swayed the bag above her head. _"Not until you say yes."_  
_  
_Kaitlin, at 5'8, had never felt short in her entire life, but compared to this guy… There was absolutely no way she could reach that bag even standing on her toes. Instead, she scowled at him with all the hatred she possessed, a side she tried not to bring to life all too often, but for the jerk standing in front of her, she allowed herself to let all of it out. _"For your information," _she began with a voice dripping of resentment and revulsion, _"I already have a boyfriend." _The image of Jake flashed before her eyes for a split second, and she caught herself thinking that Jake was the complete opposite of this guy, and that that was probably the reason that they had lasted (excluding all of their disagreements and serial breakups) for nearly two years.

She continued in a faster pace this time, with a voice cold enough to freeze hell over. _"But even if I didn't…There is now way in hell that I would ever go out with a guy like you! I think you are an arrogant son of a bitch, and if it wasn't for the fact that I wouldn't want to ruin my life by spending the remaining years of it in jail after being convicted for your murder, I would smother you with your own ego!"_  
_  
_His jaw dropped to the floor in shock at her words, and luckily for Kaitlin, so did his arm. Seizing the opportunity before it was too late, Kaitlin snatched the bag out of his hand, and then slammed the door in his face.

Kaitlin kept her arms crossed and her head down as she made her way back into the party. Cursing under her breath, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was upset about something, and it didn't go unnoticed by the quartet.

"_I'll talk to her," _Taylor offered and made her way over to Kaitlin, whom had now retorted to the kitchen to sulk.

Over the years, Kaitlin had gotten closer to Ryan than perhaps anyone would've expected, and had come to view him as a brother, and now that Taylor was together with him, it made her a sort of sister to Kaitlin. At least that's what she thought, but then again, their family tree was pretty messed up these days. Either way, Taylor felt responsible for the younger girl. They had gotten pretty close when Taylor had been living with her and Julie after her own mother had kicked her out, and Kaitlin had taken a liking to Taylor's eccentric nature while Taylor had admired the girl's toughness and inventive wit. That was over six years ago today and they'd both grown and changed quite a lot, but their liking for each other remained the same, and Taylor still knew how to approach the girl without getting on her bad side.

"_Hey, Kaitlin…," _Taylor began carefully and took a seat opposite her. _"Who was at the door?"_

Kaitlin just glared at her. Knowing Taylor, she knew she had come to find out why Kaitlin was all grouchy, but not only because she cared about her a lot, but also because she was the most curious person Kaitlin knew, and she wasn't going to rest until she received a satisfied answer. Kaitlin however, wasn't going to give in that easily, and she turned to look at her friend and muttered grumpily: _"I really don't want to talk about it."_

**Author's Note: The next chapter will pick up where this one left off… But it will probably be a week at least before I update this because I need to write the 4th chapter of my other story first. Until then… Be patient, and please review! It means everything to me.**


	8. Conversations

**Author's Note:** So…I know: _An update of LIB? WTF?!_

I am well aware that this has been a looooooong time coming (ELEVEN freaking months to be exact!). This was the unfortunate consequence of a writer's block and a disinterest in writing in general. So if I still have any reader's left… I am SO sorry! You should all know that I have realized that writing is my passion and the air I breathe and that _not _doing it for over half a year made me miserable, so expect updates a lot more frequently from now on!

I'm aiming for about a chapter every two weeks. More often than that would just be a vain promise since I have to other stories to keep up with as well. But my goal for this one is as stated a chapter every two weeks and hopefully, I'll be able to keep that up.

Ok, so here's the next chapter, please leave your reviews at the end, because there really is no greater motivation. And also, if this makes no sense to you since it was so long ago I updated, just skim through the last chapter quickly and it will all come back to you. Thank you! (And once again, I am SO sorry!)

**Chapter 8: Conversations**

Taylor and Kaitlin remained in silence for a while; Kaitlin just staring at a point of the table, her eyes still flashing with anger, but not uttering a single word, and Taylor too remaining quiet, even if she on the inside was practically bursting with excitement to find out what it was that was bothering Kaitlin. She was pretty sure she knew what it was all about, because after living with the girl for several months, even if it was six years ago, she had learned exactly the way she reacted in every kind of situation. Taylor was always quick to pick up on that because she loved studying body language, and had taken several psychology classes, and Kaitlin wasn't very hard to figure out, as Taylor had learned. And if Taylor knew Kaitlin as well as she thought she did… this was about a boy.

Taylor was already drawing up a list in her mind of who the potential boy was. She had already eliminated Jake from the list since he was in Europe, and Kaitlin had only just gotten upset after opening the door. So this was most likely someone else all together, maybe someone new, and Taylor had to know who this someone was! Okay, so it was possible that it made her the craziest, sneakiest person in the entire world, but Taylor just had to know everything about everyone; curiosity was one of her most prominent virtues, and lord knows that there certainly were a lot of them! It was probably also the raging hormones within her that was making her just quite this insane, or well… at least that seemed like a satisfying excuse.

So now all she needed was for Kaitlin to start speaking… But how was she to get her to do that? Should she go with the slow, easing-in approach, or the full-frontal Townsend Tornado?

Taylor's mind was already working overtime to figure this out, so she was very surprised indeed when Kaitlin muttered something under her breath that interrupted her thought process:

"_I hate him."_

Aha! So she'd been right! A tiny gleam of triumph was enough to immediately put all of Taylor's sneaky-abilities to work. _"Who? Jake?" _she asked cleverly, knowing that the question was enough for Kaitlin to have to give her a more detailed explanation. _Seth may think he's the stealth one_, Taylor thought privately with a slight smile, _but he really doesn't stand a chance._

"_No…," _Kaitlin said, heaving out a big breath of air. She was debating over whether or not to tell Taylor about the arrogant idiot that had stalked her to Seth's and Summer's… What had he said his name was? Dan? Denny? Danny? Whatever, she didn't care, the only reason she'd ever need to know his name was for court reasons if she'd have to get him a restraining order. It's not like she gave a damn about him, he just got on her nerves.

"_He, um…" _She found herself having words such as arrogant jerk and stalker in her head, but when she opened her mouth to say them aloud, no sound came out. It was as if something inexplicable, something she would never have been able to explain or even begin to understand, even in her own mind, was holding her back.

It was kinda funny in a way. Kaitlin was used to having guys coming on to her and since she'd had a boyfriend the bigger part of the past few years, she was also used to blowing them off completely, or letting them down easy depending on what type of guy it was. Ever since meeting Jake, she'd never even considered being with another guy, so that had never been a challenge, and her feelings had always been completely neutral to all the men she'd rejected.

And then what's-his-name's face had appeared in front of her, and she'd just been instantly overcome with hate, much to her own surprise. She wasn't used to feeling so strongly about people based on her first impression of them, but with this guy and his arrogance she'd just instantly loathed him. Yeah he was an ass that most likely slept with hundreds of girls each week, but was _that_ really deserve the glacier-cold shoulder she'd given him?

What she couldn't figure out at all, was why the _hell she was still thinking about him?!_ He was just some guy, and it wasn't as if she was ever going to see him after the way she'd just killed all his possible hopes. So there was no reason to even give him a second though now that she had her purse back, and therefore there was no reason to tell Taylor all about his stalker-ish ways and cocky smile, and _stealing _her purse…right?

"_Yeah, it's Jared," _she concluded after the sight of her baby brother chasing Sophie around in the living room had caught her attention. _"I kinda hate him. I mean, he's been waking me up at like 7 am every morning since I've gotten home, and that's, like, totally inhumane. So yeah, he's driving me crazy. And then there's my mom with her overprotective supervision and midnight curfew, and I'm 22, you know? So I reeeaally need to get my own place."_

Taylor gave her a slight smile, knowing perfectly well that she had managed to avoid what was actually on he mind, and that Kaitlin by no means hated her little brother. But she decided to let it slide, figuring that Kaitlin would tell her when she was ready to talk about it. Whatever that problem was about, it would have to wait and until then, she'd have to put her own curiosity aside. But Taylor realized she _could _help Kaitlin with her other problem; the family issue that had kept her complaining all evening, even before the door bell had rang. _"Oh my god! You could totally move into my apartment!"_

Kaitlin gave her a startled look, partly because the suggestion caught her totally by surprise, but also because she knew the guy she considered a brother, and she knew he was no fan of change. _"Really? You think that would be okay with Ryan?" _

For a fraction of a second, Kaitlin could've sworn she saw a gleam hesitation in Taylor's eyes, but the next second, it was as if it had never been there.

Taylor flashed her another brilliant smile and continued in a very fast, excited pace: _"Of course! I mean, I practically live at Ryan's anyways, and with the baby coming, it's not like we have any need for two apartments, so I don't see why that would be a problem. I'd just have to get my stuff out and you could move in, like, next week or something."_

"_Okay, sure. That sounds totally awesome. Thanks!" _Kaitlin smiled, now excited about the prospect of living on her own again. So what if she wouldn't get the dream apartment she'd just visited, but she'd been to Taylor's place before and it was a nice apartment. Just big enough for one person, and not too far away from campus, it was a really great option.

"_Glad I could be of some help!" _Taylor said, once again flashing all those pearly whites. _"Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head back to the party and do some mingling! I am the hostess after all," _she added with an excited wink. In one swift motion she rose from her chair and skipped away with steps that just seemed too light for a woman who was bothered by rock-around-the-clock morning sickness.

--

"_So how was the honeymoon?" _Ryan asked the newlyweds, eager to take his mind off of the subject that was occupying his mind at the time.

"_Oh god Ryan you wouldn't _believe_ how much it _sucked_!" _Seth exclaimed dramatically. The way he stressed the words believe and sucked indicated that he'd been holding off the topic during the entire time of the party, just waiting to thoroughly explain every detail of it. Which, knowing Seth, was probably the case.

"_Okay, now I'm soo out of here!" _Summer said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. _"Living through his whining the first time was bad enough, I think I would have to kill him if I heard the repeats."_

"_You wouldn't do that, you know you love me!" _Seth called after her as she started walking away.

"_Yeah, maybe a tiny, tiny bit, hidden deep within me." _She turned around scolding, but the corners of her mouth still twitched in a mischievous grin.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, but Seth just smiled. _"It's just this little thing we do," _he assured his brother casually.

"_You know, with you two, nothing surprises me anymore," _Ryan said with a shook of his head.

"_Yeah okay, about the honeymoon, though…," _Seth began, by now feeling he'd been patient enough and started rambling away. Ryan just nodded, welcoming the distraction, as he for the first time in his life felt thankful for the way his brother could blabber on forever about nothing.

--

While Kaitlin exited the kitchen to join Julie playing with Jared and Sophie, Taylor decided to do some mingling and made her way over to Kirsten and Sandy in an attempt to be the best hostess she could possible be.

"_So you guys enjoying the party?" _she asked with a polite smile, only now grasping that she was holding her breath in anxiety. Suddenly, her palms were a little wet with moisture and she realized that she was very nervous about talking to her unborn child's grandparents. She had barely exchanged more than a few sentences with them since her return from France and feared that things would be awkward. She wanted so desperately to fit into the clan, for them to start seeing her as part of the family, even though she and Ryan had only been together officially for three weeks. Her insecurities got the best of her and she broke out in a nervous ramble before either of the Cohen's had the chance to answer her question. _"I mean, I know it's not a real party or anything, and that it was very last minute, so I barely had any time to cook or bake anything special, so I just threw some stuff together really quickly, and-"_

Kirsten gave her a warm welcoming smile. _"Everything's great, Taylor. It was a really sweet thing of you to do." _

Taylor exhaled in relief and flashed her a grateful smile, never getting the chance to continue her nonsense blabber as Summer came to join the group.

"_Ugh," _she said, her face crinkled up in an unpleased grimace._ "I just _had_ to get away from Cohen a little. He's over there giving Atwood the load down on our honeymoon, and he's like more excited about talking to him than he is normally around _Chrismukkah, _so I thought it best to give them some alone time. I mean seriously, you should have heard his whining on the plane home about how long it'd been since he'd talked to Ryan face to face. If I didn't have the pictures and the legal documents to prove it, I think I would forget that _I'm_ the one he's newly wedded to and not Atwood." _

She finished with a dramatic eye roll, making everyone laugh. They all looked in the direction of the two brothers, Seth happily illustrating a story with big hand gestures and odd facial expressions, but all Taylor could see was the man she loved standing next to him.

Ryan was just shaking his head and laughing along, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. Seeing him like that; so happy, made it impossible for Taylor to even sense the fear and confusion that had been bothering her over the past couple of days. All the anxiety over the rush and dramatic changes that their relationship had been thrown into and with all the changes that were to come… what was there to worry about? They were both getting everything they had ever dreamed of; true love, a family, so what could possibly be wrong with that? What did it matter if the circumstances weren't the best, and if everything around them was a mess when all their dreams were coming true?

And surely that was the way Ryan had to feel too, so why should she bother him with her own pathetic and shallow concerns? Everything was okay. Right?

--

"… _and it wasn't as if I was ever really threatened, I mean, Zach shaves his chest, and well I might not have a whole lot of chest hair to show off with, but at least I'm not gay enough to shave it away. I am a man now after all and men just don't do that…"_

Seth kept rambling on, and Ryan was doing his best to laugh at all the right places and occasionally, when possible, he tried to put a few words in to let his brother know that he was listening. Yet, even though his brother's storytelling rant per usual was so overwhelming in speed and details that it made Ryan's ears bleed, he still couldn't quite shake what was on his mind. And for some unexplainable reason that Ryan would never understand, even his brother in all his self-absorbedness, seemed to notice.

"_Hey, Ryan, are you okay?" _Seth suddenly asked, interrupting himself in the midst of a sentence. _"You look kind of… broody."_

Ryan raised a skeptical eyebrow in surprise, as if this was supposed to be a change in his behavior of any sort.

Seth seemed to catch on. _"Not that that's not normal for you…," _he continued quickly, _"… I just figured you seemed so happy when Taylor was talking about the ultrasound and showed the picture and everything, and then all of a sudden you are in broody-Ryan mood once again. So is there something going on with Taylor that you're worried about?"_

Ryan cursed under his breath. Since when during the 10 years that he'd known Seth had he EVER paid attention to the thoughts and emotions of anyone other than himself? Why today of all days, was the day that he decided to take notice of that stuff?

"_Look, Seth there's nothing going on," _Ryan announced with a sigh. _"Taylor and I are fine," _he finished with an irritated look, stating he was done with the topic.

"_Okay, so I know that look; it conveys that you don't want to talk about it, which okay, I can understand since it's very… you. But just in the spirit of being a man now and everything, I'll leave you with a little manly advice…"_

Ryan scoffed at this, a hint of a smile on his face.

Seth however ignored his brother's disbelief, and lowered his voice as he said: _"…But if there IS something that worries you concerning your relationship with Taylor, and I'm not saying there actually is since that look basically said it all, but if there is… Just talk to her, man. If there's one thing I learned from this crappy honeymoon with Summer, it's that in a relationship, things are always easier to figure out when you do it together."_

Ryan couldn't deny that he was in a bit of a shock: Seth interrupting one of his rambles in concern of someone else, not pressing for details when realizing something's not right, and then offering grown-up advice in the spirit of Sandy Cohen… _"Huh, maybe you really are becoming a man,"_ Ryan stated finally, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"_Thank you! Now, if I could just convince Summer of that…" _

_--_

_Just talk to her…_

Seth's advice echoed in his head as he and Taylor were driving home. All during the drive, Taylor had been gushing over her conversations with the girls, and how much she adored Jared and Sophie, and even Ryan found it difficult not to be affected by her enthusiasm and found himself smiling on more occasions than one.

But regardless, he still couldn't shake Seth's words that seemed to be permanently etched into his mind. This was possibly because it was probably the first thing his brother had ever said that had made any sense whatsoever, but it just seemed like the logical thing to do. In theory it sounded so easy; just string a few words together into a coherent sentence and tell her what's on your mind.

Of course, theory and reality are rarely the same thing. And the biggest problem he was struggling with was that he didn't know what to say. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure what he was concerned about in the first place since he was certain of the fact that he loved Taylor, and the family and life that they were building together. He still wanted all the things he'd ever dreamt of and he wanted them with her- of this he was certain.

Yet, he still couldn't help feeling of overwhelmed because everything had happened so quickly. And then there was the doctor's words_; "He's what made you change your mind?" _What did that _mean_?

"_So are you going to your place or mine tonight?" _he asked her, suddenly realizing he'd automatically driven halfway to his own apartment.

"_Um… I was thinking my apartment actually," _Taylor said in a wary voice, carefully monitoring his facial expression to see his reaction.

"_Oh, okay," _he nodded.

"_Yeah, you see, I need to clean it up a little. Because tonight when Kaitlin and I were talking, she mentioned she'd been looking for an apartment, and well… I told her she could move into mine," _she finished with a nervous exhale.

Taylor studied Ryan's face, but it remained unreadable in the few seconds of silence that laid between them. And as he didn't say anything, Taylor spoke again, her words picking up in both speed and pitch as she continued: _"I mean, we've talked about moving in together officially for quite a while, and I practically live at your place anyways, so I told her that it would be okay for her to stay there, and that she could move in as soon as I just got my stuff out of there. I know I probably should've told you first, but she just got so excited, and I figured it wasn't that big of a deal, 'cause I mean you were all cool about finding out you were becoming a dad, so then this definitely shouldn't be too weird. It's not like we'd want to raise our child at two different places anyways, and my apartment isn't even that big, and…-"_

"_Taylor, it's fine," _he told her finally, interrupting her nervous breakdown.

"_Really?" _Taylor wondered cautiously, exhaling after what had been a gold medal's worth of verbal diarrhea.

"_Yeah, I mean it makes sense," _Ryan concluded, rationalizing it out loud. _"Like you said, you practically live at my place anyways, and by having Kaitlin stay in the apartment it saves you the trouble of having to find a new tenant and stuff, so it makes sense. I understand, it's fine."_

It wasn't exactly the reaction she'd hoped for when she'd decided to tell the love of her life that she thought it was time for them to officially begin their lives together, but it would have to do. _"Guess I'll have to tell Kaitlin that it's okay for her to move in, then."_

Ryan just nodded, praying that Taylor couldn't see how ghostly white his knuckles had turned from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

**Note:** I'm sorry about this chapter. It's a pretty boring filler-chapter and I'm sorry if the characterization fails and if there are a lot of mistakes in this chapter. I don't really like this myself. Honestly, I was just tired and figured it was better to get this much delayed chapter up and running so I can continue this story, rather than trying to make this chapter perfect. I promise I'll try harder for the next installment of the story and that you won't have to wait very long! Now, whether good or bad, please review and tell me what you thought of this.

**Review!**


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